Card Captor Sakura: Arcana
by Meimi no Kage
Summary: Six peaceful years have passed since Sakura's great hunt for the Clow Cards. But magic attracts magic, as Sakura and her friends are about to find out. This time, Sakura faces a far more dangerous battle. One that may be fated to end in death.
1. Prologue: Dreams and Portents

**Card Captor Sakura ~ Arcana  
Prologue - Dreams and Portents**  


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Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. Original characters are mine. Please don't use them without consulting me first. 

Spoiler, Timeline and Ect. Warning: This story takes place after the Clow Cards are collected and, er, Yue's fun and games. That's it. No Eriol, no Suppi-chan, no Ruby Moon and yeah, Yukito's secret is a bit important to the plot. Sakura is sixteen in this story. This story is a bit dark compared to canon CCS, you are warned. People are going to get hurt and/or possibly dead. Please use discretion if you find that sort of thing offensive. 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

The warm, afternoon sun dwindled into the horizon as night inched its way across the Tokyo skyline. The full moon grew brighter as the inky shadows of night claimed the city. 

The children of Tokyo slipped into their beds one by one with lingering resignation. Tomorrow morning would bring the first day of the new school year. Most were not looking forward to it. 

Within the home of a family just recently moved to Tokyo, a young teenage girl was preparing for bed. She stood before the large bathroom mirror, dressed in a lilac-colored pajama top with matching shorts. Her long, straight raven-black hair cascaded down her back as she methodically drew a small comb through its length. A slight creasing of the skin between her sapphire eyes was the only indication that something was bothering her. 

Several minutes passed in the silence as she continued to comb her hair. Then with a quiet sigh of irritation, she scowled at her reflection, "Ugh, a new school, a new uniform, a new house, a new city, a new _everything_. And I don't even know anyone. Eh, somewhere someone must really hate you." Her scowl deepened as she whirled around, stalked out of the bathroom and a short distance down the hallway to her bedroom. 

She slammed the bedroom door and winced slightly at the loud sound, then shrugged carelessly, "Not like anyone's going to hear it." Her cousin was at work, as usual, and wouldn't be back until much later if at all. 

She sighed, much louder this time, and walked over to her desk. She laid her brush off to the side as she pulled the chair out from its place beneath the desk. A stray lock of hair fell across her face as she sat down and crossed her arm in thought. "Let's see," she murmured as she blew at her rebellious hair. "I've got my books, my uniform's over on the dresser," she grimaced at the aforementioned set of clothes, then frowned as she noticed the small, black book sitting next to them. 

"Hello, what are you doing out?" she murmured as she walked over to her dresser. It was a small, black leather-bound book sealed with an intricate silver lock. She'd had it for as long as she could remember, and had never been able to open it. Not that she had ever been interested in opening it. For some strange reason, whenever she was around it, whatever curiosity she might have had about it seemed to vanish as if it had never existed. And surely it was an odd little book, with silver filigree over the cover and strange, silver, foreign lettering emblazoned across the top. 

"Oh well," she shrugged nonchalantly as she put the book back up on the desk's bookshelf where it belonged. It didn't really matter, she had better, more pressing things to worry about... like a new day of school in the morning. With that _cheerful_ thought in mind, she yawned, shuffled over to turn the lights out and climbed into bed. 

Pale moonlight stretched across the room as the night drew on. The girl sighed in her sleep and burrowed deeper into her pillow. When the moonlight touched the dresser bearing her school uniform, silver writing flashed as the black book was once more laying beside her uniform, only now the silver lock was open. 

** ~*~**

"Oi Sakura, are you going to bed anytime tonight?" Touya called up from the bottom of the stairs. He frowned slightly at the pounding of feet coming from the upstairs hallway and crossed his arms over the apron he wore. 

Sakura barely slowed down in her mad dash from her bedroom to the bathroom, from the bathroom to her bedroom and so on, "Shut up!" 

Touya tilted his head to the side, "You'll look like a monster if you don't get any sleep. No one will ever want to look at you again." 

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Sakura yelled as she slammed her bedroom door closed. 

Touya smiled cheerfully as peaceful silence finally descended upon the household. Sakura had been really excited about the first day of the school year, to the point where she had nearly driven him and their father insane throughout the week. Hopefully, after tomorrow she'd settle down some. He wouldn't mind a little peace for little while. 

"Hmm, maybe I should ask Yuki over for dinner tomorrow night," he mused as he went back to finish cleaning up the kitchen. 

** ~*~**

"Niichan no baka," Sakura grumbled hotly as she leaned against her bedroom door. She closed her eyes and sighed quietly, then walked over and plopped down on her bed. 

"Sakura-chan?" Kero-chan blinked up at her from the floor. After a moment spent turning off both the TV and his video game, he flew up to perch upon her shoulder. 

"Ready to go to sleep, Kero-chan?" A smile creeped across her face as she looked up at him questioningly. 

"Yep! You've got a big day ahead of you, Sakura-chan. But don't forget to get me some cake, please?" He looked at her intently, waiting for confirmation. 

Sakura giggled at him as she got up to turn the lights out. "Of course, I'll bring some cake home for you." 

"Wai wai!" Kero-chan trumpeted in abject joy as he slowly flew circles above her head. 

Sakura chuckled as she pulled down the covers and lay down to sleep. "Glutton," she whispered fondly. 

"Of course, it's cake!" Kero-chan answered matter-of-a-factly as he curled up next to the pillow. "Goodnight, Sakura-chan." 

"Goodnight, Kero-chan." 

Pale moonlight stretched across the room as the night drew on. As the moonlight neared the foot of the bed, Sakura began to dream of things, strange things, odd things. 

It was so very dark... 

and cold... 

and silent... 

In her dream. This dream. 

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment in confusion. When she opened them again blood began to pool at her feet. A sickening drip-drip of something slowly filled the air, growing louder and louder each second. And then, an inhuman scream screeched across the sky and shattered the darkness, bringing a blinding white flash of light. Sakura covered her ears and squinted against the glare, as a new, unknown feeling of pure terror chilled her from the inside. '_What is it?_' she thought, '_Who is it?_' 

An instant later the light was simply gone and the silence grew once more. Minutes of black nothing and overpowering silence passed. Then, laughter came, a woman's laugh, cold and cruel. 

"So this is the one," a man's voice, deep and filled with certainty, followed the laughter. 

"The one who draws us," a woman's voice, cold and hard, answered. 

"The one who wakes us," more voices now, women and men alike, too many to identify. 

Seconds passed with nothing else said. And then, a kind voice, a woman's voice, whispered softly, "We shall see." 

Sakura awoke in a sweat from the dream, still filled with an unnamed terror. The moonlight fell across the bed, painting her hands in white light and black shadows. She blinked, her previous terror already fading away as if it had never existed. Yet, the odd feel of the dream still lingered. Such a strange dream... She looked to the right to find Kero-chan still asleep by the pillow. At least she hadn't woken him up with her antics. But what brought upon that dream? And why? And why did she feel like this was only the beginning? 

** ~*~**

_Only the beginning..._

The black book flashed faintly with a strange power in the pale moonlight. Across the room on the bed, the girl slept on, unaware as the leather-bound cover flipped over to reveal a set of thick, silver and gold bordered cards within its depths. Each card glowed with a crimson light a moment before a seemingly nonexistent wind caught them up within its grasp and blew them out into the night sky of Tokyo. The girl sighed in her sleep and rolled over, a slight frown wrinkling the skin inbetween her delicate eyebrows. She dreamed uneasy dreams of mysterious magic cards and inky, black feathered wings the covered the night sky. 

** ~*~**

Several blocks across the city, Tsukishiro Yukito awoke to an eerie sense of being watched. He blinked owlishly in confusion at the pale moonlight falling across the bedroom floor. He wasn't sure why, but something was wrong, terribly wrong. 

Elsewhere, Li Syaoran stood deep within the shadows, keeping his distance from the all-seeing moonlight and sternly gazing out of his apartment window. He scowled at the growing sensation of ancient, powerful magic that seemed to blanket the city in ever-increasing waves. Something big was going on, and he had a really bad feeling that it was going to turn out to be something involving both him and Sakura. 

** ~*~**

Outside, within the local park and beneath one of the flowering cherry tree, two endless pools of glittering pink cheerfully opened up to their new surroundings. A soft, female chuckle instantly followed and magic flared to life, altering whatever it touched with a whim. 

The land turned slowly beneath the ever-present moon as the night wore on in bated silence. Every now and then, strange sounds of unknown origin would drift up into the clear sky and disturb the odd quiet. Towards morning, just as the eastern sky brightened in welcome expectation of the sun, cruel laughter echoed out over the city far below and a red sheen blanketed the moon's surface with a sickly pallor. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Next: The Magician Attacks! The Arcana Are Revealed! 


	2. Chapter 1: The Magician

**Card Captor Sakura ~ Arcana  
Chapter 1 - The Magician**  


_____________________________________________________________________ 

Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. Original characters are mine. Please don't use them without consulting me first. 

Spoiler, Timeline and Ect. Warning: This story takes place after the Clow Cards are collected and, er, Yue's fun and games. That's it. No Eriol, no Suppi-chan, no Ruby Moon and yeah, Yukito's secret is a bit important to the plot. Sakura is sixteen in this story. This story is a bit dark compared to canon CCS, you are warned. People are going to get hurt and/or possibly dead. Please use discretion if you find that sort of thing offensive. 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

"You'll sleep through anything won't you Yuri?" The girl mumbled to herself as she gazed down at her dresser and the now open black book that lay upon its surface. "This is bad, really bad," she grimaced as she flipped the book's cover over and gingerly picked it up. 

She nervously grasped the loose collar of her pajama top and chewed her lower lip in thought. A few seconds passed in the silence, and then her blue eyes slowly slid off to the side, glancing out hesitantly at the early morning sky searching for something she knew was out there now and knew too little about. 

The book had always had a mind of its own, but who knew what whatever was inside would do. Surely it wouldn't be too bad... She winced and shook her head in disgust. She knew that whenever she thought _that_ something really bad was going to happen. And she still had to go to school today. 

** ~*~**

"Hoe! Niichan no baka! Kero-chan no baka! The first day and I'm already running late!" Sakura groaned as she slapped on her rollerblades and whisked down the sidewalk. She always loved to skate to school no matter how many years passed. It was just something ingrained in her routine. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, that sometimes she had to cook, and skate to school. Sakura smiled as she coasted down the last hill to the school grounds. She hoped Tomoyo was still waiting by the gate, and maybe, just maybe, she wasn't too late. 

A small, white dove winged over Seijyou High School as Sakura whizzed past the gates, grabbing Tomoyo's arm and dragging her best friend along as she sped by. Neither of them were going to be late for first bell if she could help it. Tomoyo's exclamation of "Sakura-chan!" drifted up on the wind as the little bird blinked and headed back towards the local park. The white dove flew down over the seemingly normal trees on a seemingly normal breeze until it came to rest upon a brilliant crystal ball attached to a long, black, lacquered cane. 

A black, silk top hat, with a pink ribbon, tipped forward over the forehead hid the eyes of the little bird's mistress from view. The dove cooed for several moments and ruffled its feathers. A smile lit up his mistress's ruby lips as she spoke, "Saw her did you? Just a teenager, you say? How sweet." The dove cocked its head at her as if in question. "Hmmm? On no, I won't have to do a thing. She'll come on her own." 

A delicate hand donned in white fingerless gloves with pink painted fingernails curled a strand of straight shoulderlength reddish brown hair in thought. A moment later, the dove's mistress tipped her tophat back revealing endless pools of pink. "Time to go back pet. You served your purpose. Enjoy the respite." The dove's crystal perch glowed with a soft white light, drawing the dove within its depth until nothing was left of the bird and then, the light winked out as if it had never been. 

"Now let's see what fun I can come up with before the guest of honor arrives." 

** ~*~**

"Class," Sakura's new teacher, a slightly middle-aged woman, called out. "I'm glad you're all settling in. With a new year comes new students. I'd like to introduce you to Minamino Yuri." 

Yuri shuffled in weakly, waving at her new classmates and sporting a small smile. She really hated these introductions. They were always bland and they gave her too much opportunity to panic. She nervously pushed a stray black hair behind her right ear. Her long hair was held back by two small white jade barrettes, but some of it still managed to sneak out and bug her at the worst times. Like now, for instance. 

"Minamino-kun, please take the desk behind Daidouji-kun," the teacher indicated the desk in question as Tomoyo and Sakura, an aisle over, both smiled cheerfully at their new classmate. Yuri returned the smiles knowing that their cheer probably wouldn't last as her dislike of school became known. And boy, that wouldn't take long. 

Syaoran scowled at the new student from his usual place behind Sakura. He was doing his best to not get noticed and pretty much disappear as much as possible. The new student was somewhat pretty, not that he cared, but she felt odd. Not that that was much help, everything today had felt odd. It was like the very air was charged with some subtle kind of magic. And with last night's display, he wasn't sure whether that might be true or not. 

Yuri continued to smile at the two girls as she settled down in her new desk. She spared a glance at the guy sitting across from her. Kinda cute, but not really her type, and what was up with all the scowling? Eh, probably hated school as much as she did. That must be it, probably. Oh well, what did she know, other than that she was in for a load of trouble if she didn't figure out what was in that stupid book and got whatever it was back and where it belonged. Yuri grimaced in pure distaste. That was for later, now she got to have _fun_ at school. Big yay. 

** ~*~**

"It's a magician! A magician!" The woman smiled cheerfully at the children that converged upon her shortly after the last school bell. She gestured grandly with her cane, small brightly colored streamers and tons of tiny flowers in as many colors popping out of thin air. There was nothing better than an audience and she was taking full advantage of it. She rolled her top hat into her right hand, rabbits and doves emerging from its depths as she waved her cane over it. 

Several minutes passed as she played for the children, drinking up the applause like ambrosia from the gods. And then, she smirked and waved her cane once more, transforming each and every one of her delighted observers into a statue of pure ice. An audience was pure bliss, but a captive audience was even better. 

Black highheels clicked against the pavement as she wove a cheerful little dance around her new toys. The guest of honor would be here soon. It was time to get ready for the main attraction. 

Crispy or icy? That was the question of the moment. Which would be better, burning the little Clow Mistress to ash or turning her into a permanent landmark. Hmm, it was something to decide upon, and soon, very soon. 

** ~*~**

Sakura and Tomoyo waved goodbye to their new classmate, and then Li-kun as he slipped out soon after the new girl. A frown wrinkled Sakura's brow as she watched him go. He'd been awfully preoccupied today. She hoped nothing was wrong. Or could it be ..? "Ne Tomoyo-chan? You don't think, um, Li-kun's interested in Minamino-san do you?" 

Tomoyo smiled sweetly, more than expecting the hesitant question from her best friend. "No, I don't think so," more like know so. A frown tugged at her mouth as she turned to watch Li-kun walk off into the distance. "I think there's something else bothering him. Maybe you should inquire about it tomorrow." Tomoyo's smile returned full force as she watched a faint blush creep up Sakura's cheeks. 

"Oh no, I couldn't do that. It's probably nothing. Really.." 

Tomoyo sighed as she watched Sakura try to laugh off the innocently delivered suggestion. Sakura was so ridiculously transparent at times, it was a wonder her brother wasn't actively seeking Li-kun's blood. And there was no doubt in Tomoyo's mind that something was or at least should be going on with her friend in that sort of light. 

Sakura was maturing into a lovely young lady. With looks similar to her mother, as Tomoyo's mother was wont to point out all the time. Though Tomoyo didn't think they were all that apparent. Sakura's hair was still short, but more shoulder length as time passed. And she had certainly developed decent *cough* attributes, which seemed to attract the boys in drove. Of course, the fact that she turned them all down led Tomoyo back to the cause of Sakura's blush. 

Li Syaoran. 

Sakura was completely head over heels in love with him. And to any observer other than Sakura, the feeling was mutual. But both of them were so supremely shy they really hadn't gotten anywhere in the past couple of years. The entire mess was enough to give Tomoyo a massive headache every single time she thought about it. Was there any hope for those two? 

"Tomoyo-chan? Hoe. Tomoyo-chan? Are you in there?" 

Tomoyo blinked back into the here and now as Sakura waved a hand in front of her face. "Eh~" 

"Where'd you go off too?" Sakura curiously asked Tomoyo. She frowned as she watched her slim friend fiddle with a lock of long, dark hair. It was a pretty rare occurrence for Tomoyo to just zone out like that. Something must be worrying her. 

"Eh, oh it's nothing Sakura-chan." Tomoyo smiled brightly to ward off any further questions and took the chance to change the subject. "By the way, I just got the newest production line compact video camera. Why don't you come over and let me tape you in some dresses I've been working on for you," Tomoyo blinked cutely and turned up the charm, "Please!" 

Sakura sweatdropped and rubbed her forehead. To deny Tomoyo at her cutest was like asking for divine punishment. "Of course, of course. Why am I even surprised anymore?" 

"That's wonderful! I've got some really cute dresses and a couple of daring ones. Sakura-chan will look so pretty on the TV!" Tomoyo giggled as she thought of Sakura in all the lovely dresses she had made. 

"I need to go home first, to tell Niichan where I'm going to be. That way he won't have a coronary. Why don't we take a shortcut through the park?" 

Tomoyo whipped a video camera out of her tote. "Wai, I'll get to tape Sakura-chan under the blooming sakura! So pretty!" 

Sakura sweatdropped once again as she trudged out of the schoolyard, an over-excited Tomoyo quickly following after her. 

** ~*~**

A gentle wind brushed against Sakura's hair, cooling her skin with its touch as it played with her hair. She smiled as Tomoyo continued to gush about how pretty she was, how lovely the park was today and what a beautiful tape this one was turning out to be. It was hard to say no to Tomoyo much less begrudge Tomoyo her hobby, odd as it was. It could have been worse, much worse. 

Her reverie came to halt as her steps slowed and finally stopped in pure astonishment. A field of small childlike statues covered the clearing before her. Tomoyo gasped in surprise at the site as Sakura hesitantly reached out to touch one of the statues. It was cold to the touch, like ice. But why wasn't it melting? 

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo managed to get out before another voice cut across the clearing. 

"Good afternoon! Would you care for a show?" Both teenagers turned and gaped at the woman who stood off to the side of the clearing, leaning leisurely against one of the flowering cherry trees. From her black highheel pumps to a satiny-black bikini style leotard that was showing more than enough hip to make Sakura blush, her legs were bare. A pink cummerbund and a matching bowtie accented a white tuxedo shirt. A black, unbuttoned tuxedo jacket with tails easily fit along with the combined effect. White fingerless gloves, pink fingernails, a black tophat with a pink ribbon and a black cane topped with a clear crystal ball all added to the eerie look of a stage performer. And a very pretty one at that, with aristocratic looks that complemented her short reddish-brown hair. But there was something about this that made Sakura's skin crawl uncomfortably. 

"A magician?" Tomoyo whispered behind her. 

** ~*~**

Syaoran came to a complete halt, his treck home instantly forgotten in light of the feeling of wrongness that was swiftly growing to massive proportions. As much as he'd like to be wrong, he just knew Sakura was right in the middle of it. And the gods knew by just the feel of this, that she was going to need some help and even that might not be enough. He blinked and shook his head against the enormous charge of magic in the air and anchored himself. Where was it coming from? Which direction? Where? 

There. 

Back towards the school, in the park most likely. Syaoran cursed as he sprinted across the street back the way he'd come. There was no time to get his sword, and he was probably going to need it. He'd just have to make do for now and hope it was enough. 

** ~*~**

The woman smiled cheerfully as she pushed off from the tree she was leaning against and walked out into the field of statues. "Lovely, aren't they? Magic can create such beauty. Don't you agree, Kinomoto Sakura?" 

"What?" Sakura drew back in surprise. "How did you know my name?" 

"I'm The Magician. I can do anything, know anything... you get the point." The Magician tipped her tophat slightly with her cane. "But we're missing someone aren't we?" Sakura gasped as she finally got a glimpse of the woman's pupiless pink eyes. "We can't have a performance without the final... volunteer from the audience." The woman giggled at a personal joke before twirling her cane around. "That can be rectified with a little trick. Don't blink or you'll miss it." 

Sakura backed up next to Tomoyo as the woman waved her hand, which was looking more and more like a claw, over the crystal ball of her cane. A brilliant flash of light emitted from the cane blinding them for a moment. 

"Sakura-chan?" 

Sakura looked around the arms she had thrown up to ward off the light. "Kero-chan?" The little guardian in question hung in the air between the teenagers and the woman before darting over to her. 

"Sakura-chan, what's going on..." 

"You blinked, too bad. But I can show you another trick that's just as good!" The Magician chuckled and began to prepare her next trick. 

"Who?" Kero-chan looked back at the strange woman and cringed at what he saw. 

"Now watch closely. You'll only get to see this once before I do it to you. So pay close attention." The Magician pointed her cane at Tomoyo and grinned maliciously. The crystal ball flashed once again, this time shooting out a beam of light that instantly engulfed Tomoyo on contact. When the light faded a new statue graced the clearing. 

"Nooo!" Sakura screamed in pure horror at the sight. Her hands closing around the numbing ice that was Tomoyo arm as she helplessly raked her fingernails across the crystal prison. 

She closed her eyes against the oncoming tears, finally hearing the woman's cruel laughter. She turned and glared at the Magician, "Why?" 

The Magician smile as if explaining to a child, "Like any good magician, I do appreciate an audience. But right now, an audience of one is all that's necessary. You're Kinomoto Sakura, the Master of the Clow Cards, weak imitations of the Arcana that they are. Still, an imitation is still worth a challenge. Don't you think so Kerberus?" 

The little guardian shook his head. The situation was bad, and he had a bad feeling he didn't even know just how bad it was. The power this woman was putting out made his hair stand on ends. 

Sakura shook her head as she reached underneath her shirt and pulled out the key. "Who are you?" 

"I'm the Magician. I can mold reality to my will. A kind of magic no one and nothing else possesses. I'm here to teach you the supreme lesson Clow did not learn and you as his successor must now face... and have a little fun while I was waiting for you." The Magician drew herself up proudly, giving them a cruel smile as she held up her right hand, two fingers extended. "Come little Mistress, call upon the power of your key. You're going to need all the help you can get. Especially without these," she twisted her hand to the side revealing an all too familiar deck of cards held between her fingers. 

"My cards!" 

The Magician grinned, "A simple trick of prestidigitation. You're such a fool. It's a good thing you'll never manage to meet _her_. She'd be extremely annoyed at your lack of skill. And well, annoying _her_ isn't exactly healthy." She looked thoughtfully at the cards she held. "Even the combined power of my brothers and sisters can't touch her, much less these little toys. Oh well... are you ready?" 

Sakura scowled and held the key before her, chanting the spell to release the power held within. 

"The Key that hides forces of darkness!" 

The little pendant began to glow, the light flickering in an eerie dance across the statues all around. 

"Show your true shape in front of me!" 

A magic circle formed beneath the Card Mistress, kicking up a wind that billowed around her. 

"I, Sakura, command you under the contract." 

The pendant began to grow in size until it became a staff. 

"Release!" 

Sakura gasped in the rush of power, then glared at the Magician. "I'm ready." 

"Good!" A flash of fire streaked across the pavement towards Sakura as the Magician jumped high into the sky. Sakura leaped out of the way only to have to duck into a roll as the Magician shot a storm of ice shards her way. "Starting to get it now? You're going to die." 

"No!" Sakura defiantly yelled at the amused woman who floated above her. "I'm not going to die! And I'm going to get Tomoyo back!" 

"I wouldn't bet on that." 

Sakura glared at the Magician. She was in trouble, serious trouble. But she had to win, there was no other way. She closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on one single thing. Her cards. _Come to me, I need you!_

The Magician curiously watched the silly girl, then turned to blink in astonishment as the cards she had stolen from the girl turned into a swirling mass of water and streaked down towards Sakura. 

Sakura smiled in relief as she felt and then saw the cards return to her, their Mistress. She smirked up at the obviously surprised Magician. "I'm going to win." 

"Don't hold your breath. It's a surprise Clow actually managed to make those toys somewhat useful. But they are just toys." The Magician scowled at the water dripping off her clothes, "This is unforgivable. You got my favorite performance outfit wet. I don't appreciate that, even from a unique audience such as yourself." The Magician smiled in triumph as a large pentagram of pure light formed beneath, each point sending a beam of pure white light up into the sky. "This might have been fun, but you've annoyed me. Time for the final curtain call." 

Power swirled around the tip of the Magician's cane, focusing on the pulsating light of the crystal ball. The pentagram grew brighter and brighter as a powerful wind picked up, pushing Sakura back from the center of the clearing. Sakura thought at lightspeed, trying to choose the best card. Dark perhaps? Or the Mirror? Something soon or she was going to be toast. 

The Magician screamed in pain, the wind dying down and the light winking out before Sakura could even make her choice. Sakura blinked in confusion. What was going on? She looked up at the Magician who was rubbing at her left cheek which bore a shallow cut. Sakura followed the woman's furious glare across the clearing to... "Li-kun?" 

He smiled wolfishly at her before turning a baleful glare at the creature who hovered above them. 

"Chinese magic," The Magician murmured. "You broke my circle. That wasn't nice. I'm afraid you're going to have to die too." 

Syaoran grinned smugly at the woman, giving her pause. "I know what you are, and I know what will hold you long enough for her to seal you." 

"Oh really, and what's that?" 

"This," Syaoran whipped around throwing something Sakura couldn't make out at the woman above. The Magician stopped, held in place by the spell affixed to her chest. "A simple ofuda. Nice huh?" He looked over at a befuddled Sakura and yelled, "Hurry up, it won't hold her for long." 

"What am I supposed to do?" 

"Seal her! She's a card!" 

"Oh! Okay," Sakura shook herself and pointed the key at the frozen Magician. "Return to the shape you were meant to be!" The power of the key swirled around her as it fought to seal away the creature before it. A thought occurred to her and she turned to gape at Syaoran. "I don't know how to finish it! I don't know what she is!" 

Kero-chan popped up finally, "She's the Magician! An Arcana Card!" 

Sakura nodded in understanding, "Return Magician! Return Arcana!" 

The ofuda burned off as the form it held in check vanished in a rush of power. The clearing once again flashed with a brilliant light, revealing a card with silver and black etching that pictured the woman from before with 'The Magician' written in archaic letters below it. The statues around them glowed faintly, then shattered with a tinkle to reveal bemused and confused people within. 

The children looked around expectantly for their magician, but were disappointed to find no sign of her. They soon shuffled off to their homes leaving behind an ecstatic Sakura, who was hugging a confused Tomoyo, and a grim Kero-chan along with an even grimmer Syaoran. 

** ~*~**

"Sakura-chan defeated a card and I didn't see it?" Tomoyo practically wailed at the news. They had all left the park to wind down at a local café. Kero-chan hid in Sakura's tote, of course. But it didn't prevent him from giving his opinion or begging for some cake. 

"Eh, Tomoyo-chan, maybe you'd better keep it down. We don't really want to attract attention," Sakura sweatdropped at her friend's distress. 

"Of course, but still," Tomoyo scowled. "I will tape the next one! And, of course, I have the perfect costume!" 

"Eh..." Sakura frowned in thought as she looked down at her newest acquisition. "The Magician. I'd thought I'd collected all the cards. So what is this?" 

"The Arcana," Syaoran started before Kero-chan could pipe up, "It's what Clow developed the Clow Cards after. It's a deck of 22 cards, each representing an ideal barely remembered in popular Tarot divinations. The cards are old, too old. No one remembers where they came from or how they were made." He closed his eyes as he continued, "All I remember are the Elders' warnings. If you see an active card, run away as far and as fast as you possibly can. And pray to the gods you never see Death, active or not." 

Sakura shivered as he finished. She'd never heard Li-kun this resigned, as if he didn't have any hope at all. Was it really that bad? 

"I think the only reason we manage to seal The Magician is because she hasn't been active for very long. She wasn't using her full power, otherwise we would be dead. An ofuda won't work next time." 

"The others are here," Kero-chan's muffled voice drifted out of Sakura's tote. "We're attracting them and I don't know how to stop it. Sakura-chan, you're going to have to learn how to use the Magician and fast." 

"Hai." 

** ~*~**

Sakura sighed as she shuffled up the stairs to her front door. The conversation with Tomoyo-chan and Li-kun hadn't lasted much longer. Neither Li-kun or Kero-chan knew much more than rumors and superstitions about these new cards. The Magician had been ready to kill her, and probably would have if Li-kun hadn't shown up. But as much as she'd like to think that he would be, there was no guarantee that he'd be there to help the next time. She was going to have to figure out how to handle these new cards on her own. But, she really didn't feel too comfortable about calling forth the Magician card. 

The Magician had seemed all too real, like she had been a real person. If that was true for the rest of the cards, how were they going to recognize them for what they were? 

"Hoe, I'm getting a headache from this," Sakura grimaced as she rubbed her forehead. Niichan would be suspicious if she came in like this. Opening the front door, she plastered on a smile she hoped looked real enough to get her up to her room without any questions. 

Sakura slipped off her shoes and stepped into her slippers as she called out, "I'm home!" She came to a halt as she got a good look at her brother. 

Touya was talking on the phone, looking really worried, "Yes... yes... I will... thank you." He scowled deeply as he hung up. A moment later he was hustling past a surprised Sakura. "Come on little monster, we're going over to Yuki's. He didn't show up for work today." 

"Hoe!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

That's it for this chapter. It's the first real action scene I've written in years. Let me know if it came out all right, I'm sure to rewrite it at some point though. I'm writing this fanfic through a block that's been giving me grief for the entire year. Eheh. ^_^; I ended up writing this chapter on Word, so please excuse any glaring format mistakes. >_ I try to fix them in notepad, but you never know how screwed up it'll get with Microsoft. 

Next: Yukito-san is missing! What is wrong with the people of Tokyo? 


	3. Chapter 2: The Hanged Man

**Card Captor Sakura ~ Arcana  
Chapter 2 - The Hanged Man**  


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Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. Original characters are mine. Please don't use them without consulting me first. 

Spoiler, Timeline and Ect. Warning: This story takes place after the Clow Cards are collected and, er, Yue's fun and games. That's it. No Eriol, no Suppi-chan, no Ruby Moon and yeah, Yukito's secret is a bit important to the plot. Sakura is sixteen in this story. This story is a bit dark compared to canon CCS, you are warned. People are going to get hurt and/or possibly dead. Please use discretion if you find that sort of thing offensive. 

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Nervously balancing back and forth from one foot to the other, Sakura wrapped her arms around her waist. The light sweater she had donned earlier seemed unable to prevent the chill from the night air, or perhaps it was the object of her thoughts that made her shiver. She wasn't quite sure which was the cause. She watched her brother as she chewed on her lower lip. 

Touya stood over by the doorbell, waiting pensively. The house was dark but that didn't necessarily mean anything. After all, Yuki could already be asleep... That didn't stop either of them from worrying though, far from it. 

The usual things that would keep a person from work, just didn't apply to Yuki. Could he be sick? Yeah right. Since when could Touya ever recall Yuki being sick with a cold much less anything else? It was possible but very doubtful. Besides, Yuki would have called in if he was sick. No, it had to be something else. But what? 

The seconds ticked by. Nothing. The house was as silent as a tomb. And what a lovely thought that was. Touya scowled in frustration and started digging in his pocket. 

Sakura blinked in surprise as Touya produced a set of keys from the pocket of his jeans. She was even more surprised when he used them to unlock the door. Since when had niichan had keys to Yukito-san's house? She shook her head in slight wonderment as she followed her brother into the dark entryway. 

Touya felt around for the light switch and closed the front door after Sakura, engulfing them both in darkness. A second later he found what he was looking for and flipped the switch on. They both squinted in the glare, much brighter than the moonlight or even the streetlights had been. 

"Hoeee?!" Sakura looked around in shock. A thin film of some white glittery substance covered every possible surface in view. It was on the furniture, the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. "What... is this?" 

Touya scowled deeply as he rubbed his fingers together, white glitter on the tips from where he had flicked the lights on. He sniffed his fingers hesitantly. There was a very faint smell that reminded him of outdoors and night time. A grimace flitted across his face as he wiped his hands off on his jeans. The bad feeling he'd been having all day was swiftly becoming much worse. 

"Yu- Yukito-san?" Sakura called out, her voice wavering from worry and concern. She didn't really expect an answer. The house felt empty and hollow to her as if it had been a long time since anyone had been there. She looked down at her feet hesitantly. She wanted to take a look at the house but she didn't want to take her shoes off and get that stuff on her socks. A questioning look over at her brother got a noncommittal shrug. Okay, better to be rude and safe than polite and getting weird stuff on her feet. 

Touya followed Sakura as she slowly headed deeper into the house, also foregoing politeness and keeping his shoes on. Something about his sister's reaction told him that Yuki was long gone. But how would she know and why did he trust her intuition so readily? There were too many questions with no forthcoming answers. "Yuki?" 

Sakura walked around surveying the house in an almost daze, leaving behind footprints in the glittering dust. She was doing her best not to touch any of that stuff, but it was kinda difficult with it covering everything in sight. It must have something to do with Yue-san, but what? She needed Kero-chan and Li-kun, but what to do about niichan? 

She gave him a quick glance then started chewing on her fingernail. He looked really worried. And why not? His best friend was missing and Yukito's house was covered in this gunk. Who wouldn't be worried? Oh well, there was no way around it. She'd just have to figure out some way to keep them from killing each other. 

Touya watched Sakura walk over and wipe the phone off with the corner of her sweater with mounting curiosity. "Oi Sakura, what are you up to?" 

Sakura looked over at him as she picked up the receiver. "I'm calling someone who might be able to help." 

Touya blinked. "Who?" 

"You'll see," she answered cryptically. She really wanted to stave off any outbursts as long as possible. Quickly dialing a number she knew by heart but rarely if ever used, she waited. 

Touya watched Sakura fidget as she waited for an answer. Finally, she smiled warmly and spoke. "It's Sakura. I'm over at Yukito-san's house. Can you come over here now? There's something you need to see... yes... yes... niichan is here too," she held the receiver away from her ear as whoever it was on the other end started yelling. "I'm sorry, it can't be avoided... I know... I know... yes... yes... Can you drop by the house and pick up you know who?... Thank you!... yes... yes... see you soon." 

Sakura smiled a sweet smile Touya didn't quite know how to interpret as she hung up. Then, she turned around and beamed at him. "He's on his way." 

"Who?" 

"You'll see." 

** ~*~**

The lights of the train station flickered in the night, dimming and pulsing with the comings and goings of the trains. A beautiful middle-aged woman stood off to the side, her hands shaking as she dug around in her purse for something. 

She was late. She couldn't believe how irresponsible she was. Late for an important business meeting to discuss the merger. He would be so disappointed. He might even fire her. Would he? She wasn't sure anymore. 

In the past, he had always seemed to go out of his way to compliment her. Her almost instinctual knowledge of the stock market had always given her an edge over the other brokers in the business and had earned his admiration. But lately, the closer they had gotten to the merger the more he seemed to ignore her acquisitions for the company's benefit. Was she unnecessary now? 

"Sakamura-san?" She gasped in fright and whirled around. Time seemed to slow as she gazed into depthless pools of brown. "Why do you persist? You sacrifice everything for all the wrong reasons. Let go of what you know. Embrace the future that is waiting for you." 

"I.. I will," she watched him walk away, disappearing into the press of people. Dropping her purse, she touched her lips with steadying fingers. It was time to leave, time to leave Tokyo. Perhaps visit her family in Nara, she thought as she walked off in a daze leaving behind scattered possessions that seemed so unnecessary in light of this revelation. 

Behind her, others ran into the strange young man who seemed too wise for his casual appearance. They too abandoned what they knew for something else, a new purpose that his presence had shown them. And so the night went, more and more people falling under the spell of a different weave of destiny. 

** ~*~**

Syaoran grimaced as he warily glanced up the last few steps to the door. He wasn't really looking forward to getting into it with Touya tonight. Not to mention the fact that Kerberus has been whining and complaining the entire way here. But she had asked, so here he was with the pesky guardian and about to walk into Yukito-san's house with Touya there no less. If there was a god, somehow someway he had really gotten on its bad side. 

"Might as well get it over with," He grumbled, trudged up the stairs and reached out to ring the doorbell. No one ever said he wasn't a sucker for punishment. He could just make out the sound of light footsteps coming towards the door, before it opened to reveal the only reason he would actually put up with all of this. 

Sakura. She smiled at him, but there was an edge to it. Something was seriously worrying her. He sighed and fervently hoped he had the ability to fix whatever was creating that worry. 

"You're here," she simply stated as she stepped off to the side allowing room for him to enter. 

He gave her a weak smile as he walked past her, only to come to a complete halt upon seeing the state of the house. He blinked in wonder at the white glittery dust that seemed to cover everything. The house felt _cold_ to him. It was a cold that utterly desolated the soul, something he hadn't ever felt before. 

Syaoran hesitantly reached out and touched the wall, touched the white glitter. He closed his eyes and his mind was instantly swept away to somewhere else. A place where the air burned from the cold and the trees rose around him menacingly. A place where the full moon dominated the midnight sky. A place where the wind howled and something oppressive hunted him from the shadows. Something that hunted for its own pleasure. 

"What is that brat doing here?!" 

Syaoran was shocked back from the vision by Touya's explosive outburst. He dropped his hand from the wall and turned to glare at Sakura's furious brother. _This_ he had expected. In fact, Touya's antics were a somewhat calming balm on his heart, which had begun racing the instant the vision began. How ironic. 

"Touya!" Syaoran stared and Touya gaped, his tirade instantly forgotten as Sakura stalked up to him, her hands on her hips. He'd never seen her quite this angry before. Nor had she _ever_ used his name in quite that tone before. He was in serious trouble. 

She pinned him with her fiery emerald glare. "Don't even start. You should be grateful Li-kun agreed to come over here in the first place! It's not like you're his favorite person. But he was nice enough to come, so you _will_ behave." 

Touya blanched, "But why _him_?" 

She closed her eyes, as if she was fighting to control herself. Then she looked back up at him, the fire in her eyes somewhat doused, but still evident. "Whether you've noticed it or not, Li-kun _is_ a priest. I would think it's obvious that this," she waved around at the strange white glitter, "is his line of expertise." 

Touya hunched his shoulders, knowing she was right and still not liking it. "Yeah." 

Sakura sighed somewhat in defeat as Touya shot a hot glare towards Syaoran and growled, "Well?" She'd managed to stop any serious confrontations, but her brother still refused to give Li-kun any slack. Li-kun's perseverance in coming over here despite the mutual dislike they had for each other really was remarkable. It was just another little _thing_ she admired about him. 

Syaoran coolly returned Touya's glare, more than ready to keep his feelings to himself. Unfortunately, one look at Sakura's encouraging smile caved in any plans to railroad Touya. If Touya ever found out about his weakness for the man's sister, he'd be dead, much less if Syaoran's family ever found out. God forbid, he'd never survive that. 

He turned around, reaching up to touch the wall and the glitter upon its surface once more. "Well, it's definitely magic, _old_ magic," Syaoran put extra emphasis on _old_ hoping Sakura would catch the hint. "But from what I can tell, Yukito-san got out before this happened. Odds are he'll show up sooner or later at _your_ house or at least call. You _are_ his best friend after all aren't you?" 

Touya blanched slightly, envisioning Yuki showing up at their house and him not being there. Not good. He looked down at Sakura, his obvious distress showing. "If that's the case, we should get home." 

Sakura frowned and looked over at Syaoran questioningly. He shook his head slightly, "I'd like to stay and study this more. That way I can figure out how to keep it from happening again." 

Touya was torn, he really wanted to get home in case Yuki _did_ show up and yet he didn't particularly like the idea of that brat being left alone in Yuki's house. What to do? 

Sakura smiled up at her brother. She knew full well what he was thinking. "Niichan, I'll stay here with Li-kun. He can bring me home after he's finished, right?" She smiled over at Li-kun hoping he'd catch the hint. And he did, nodding slowly in agreement. 

Touya was torn yet again, not wanting to leave his _sister_ alone with the brat. Still, she had shown at least a mild dislike of the boy in the past so maybe it would be all right. He shook his head slightly as Sakura began to push him out the door. "But Sakura..." 

"No buts, it'll be fine. Go home." She smiled in reassurance as she finally pushed him out onto the steps and closed the door behind him. That should take care of her brother at least. She frowned and turned back towards Li-kun, a shadow falling across her features. "It's the Arcana isn't it?" 

"Yes, I think so," Syaoran muttered distractedly as he roughly pulled a struggling Kero-chan out of his coat pocket. 

Kero-chan shook his head violently, then glared venomously at Syaoran. "Jerk! I couldn't breathe in there!" He stretched trying to get rid of the cricks in his back, then jerked out of Syaoran's grasp. He flitted around the room, staring google-eyed at the silver white glitter that covered every surface imaginable. A few seconds later he came to a halt, hovering a few inches in front of Sakura's face, "Sakura-chan, what happened to Yue?" 

Sakura shrugged in despair, "I don't know, I was hoping either of you could figure it out." She looked over at Syaoran, who shook his head before turning back to study the white glitter. She sighed, then blinked in confusion as she thought about what Kero-chan had just asked. "Wait a minute, Yue not Yukito?" 

Kero-chan nodded as he looked around curiously at the white dust. "Yeah, he was Yue when he left. I can feel the last fading bit of his magic. But what is the rest of this stuff? It feels like a card's after effect," Kero-chan squinched his nose up, making a disgusted face, "but it smells like blood." 

Sakura frowned somewhat squeamishly as Syaoran whipped around, giving Kero-chan a piercing look. "Blood?" He turned back around, studying the glitter, "That's... odd. It smells more like outdoors to me." 

"That's really weird, it smells like outdoors to me too," Sakura tilted her head to the side in thought. Her eyes widened in shock as something caught her gaze. "Tell me I'm seeing things," she whispered as she pointed up at the ceiling. 

Syaoran and Kero-chan looked up at where she indicated, surprise and more showing on their faces. The glitter on the ceiling was, moving! First in a slow ripple like effect that grew larger and more violent as they stared at it in growing horror. A woman's voice spoke then, cold and distorted, as if over great distance, "Where? Where.. did.. you.. go?" 

Sakura blindly reached behind her for the doorknob, casting a meaningful gaze at Syaoran and then Kero-chan. It was almost like a ghost, and she did _not_ want to have to deal with a ghost. The voice echoed again as Sakura found the knob and began to open the door, "I _will_ find you." 

Sakura grabbed Kero-chan and darted out the open door and into the chill night air. She stopped at the bottom stairs and watched fearfully as Syaoran followed her lead, closing the door behind him. "That..." she shivered, "that wasn't one of the Arcana was it?" 

"Sort of," Syaoran answered matter-of-factly as he came to stand beside her, casting a short glance at the house behind him. "It wasn't one of the cards in person. It was more of an... extension of one of them." He looked down at her, concern showing in his eyes. "As for which card, I really couldn't tell you." 

"Ah," Sakura looked down at her feet in a mixture of relief and shame. She had gone and made a fool out of herself in front of Li-kun again. What he must think of her... scared of a little magic. But it had really seemed like a ghost for a second there, and she _hated_ ghost. It was silly she knew, being afraid of ghosts, not to mention embarrassing. Ugh! She was letting her fears distract her again. 

She looked up at Syaoran, determination flashing in her eyes. "Is there any way we can clean that stuff out of Yukito-san's house?" 

"I don't think so," Syaoran slowly shook his head. "At least, not until we catch the specific card that's causing it." 

"Oh," Sakura seemed to deflate at the news. She cast a furtive glance at Yukito's house before shuffling off despondently in the direction of her own. Not really seeing what she was looking at, Sakura stared at her feet deep in thought. 

Syaoran frowned as he hurried to catch up with her. While he was concerned about Yukito-san, he was more worried about Sakura at the moment. He hated seeing her so down, it just wasn't normal. And... he was worried about the Arcana. When and where would they attack next? 

His frown deepened into a scowl as his thoughts took a darker turn. Would he be there to protect her next time? Or would he be too late? He _had_ almost been too late against the Magician. His mind shied away from the endless guesses at what might have happened if he had arrived a few minutes later. 

Taking a peek at Li-kun from the corner of her eye, Sakura winced. Judging by his scowl, he _really_ must be worried about Yukito-san. She sighed, quickly squashing the little pang of jealousy that rose up at that thought. This was not the time, nor the place for something like that. Besides, she was worried about Yukito-san too. 

About this time, Kerberus, who had silently been hovering above them, shook off his worries about Yue. Yue was more than capable of taking care of himself. Kerberus knew this better than anyone. The little guardian was more than certain that Yukito would show up tomorrow or the day after with no idea where he had been. Still... with the Arcana involved... No. Kerebus shook his head. Yue would be fine. He had to be. 

Looking down at the somber pair, Kerberus wondered what in the world was wrong with them. It just wasn't natural for _both_ of them to be so gloomy and morose. Of course they were worried about Yukito, but they ought to know that Yue would be fine. Or maybe they just hadn't gotten that far in their thought processes yet. 

Kerberus puffed up in imagined importance as he glided down to perch on Sakura's right shoulder. As the only available Clow Guardian, it was his duty to inform the Clow Mistress and her, um, sidekick of the certainty that 'Yue would be fine' and that they shouldn't bother worrying about it. After all, that was his job. 

Sakura started slightly as she felt Kero-chan settle down upon her shoulder. She'd forgotten completely about him. He had been so quiet. It was so unlike him. Poor Kero-chan, he must be worried out of his mind about Yue-san. Sakura berated herself, she should have noticed Kero-chan's unusual silence sooner. Well, she'd just have to think of a way to settle Kero-chan's worries. It was, at the very least, her duty as the Clow Mistress to comfort the Clow Guardian. He shouldn't have to worry. After all, that was her job. 

Unfortunately, both the Clow Mistress and her guardian were kept from their supposed duties by the uncomfortable feeling of the hair on the back of their necks standing on ends. An uncanny sensation that was felt even more strongly by the trained priest at their side. Some type of powerful magic was at work in the immediate vicinity. 

Syaoran turned, looking back, his eyes narrowed. It _had_ to be one of the Arcana. But from where? He strained his senses, trying to determine where the source of this feeling was coming from. It was different this time. It wasn't like the Magician, whose magic has felt like a miniature sun to him and thus had been easy to pinpoint. 

This magic felt like it had been dispersed into the very air, no part weaker or stronger than the other. And it _was_ everywhere. His skin crawled from the feel of it. His lungs burned from it with every breath. This was not good. He was at a distinct disadvantage with it affecting him like this. Now he knew exactly why the elders preached an all out retreat when _these_ cards were involved. 

Sakura watched Li-kun worriedly, her concern for him growing every passing second. She wasn't quite sure how she knew it, but something was definitely wrong with him. She reached out hesitantly, intent upon getting his attention by tugging on his sleeve. 

"So cute!" 

Hand stopped in mid-reach, Sakura looked down the street with what could only be described as a dumfounded expression. Her eyes took on a saucer-like quality as they widened at what she saw hurrying cheerfully towards them. 

A short elderly woman, she _had_ to be somebody's grandmother, rushed up the street towards them. Her graying hair was tied up neatly in a bun, a few wisps falling down to frame her face. The dark green dress she wore was of a simple make, but seemed to compliment the figure she was obviously holding onto as the years passed. She clapped her hands together in glee as she came to a stop before them. "Such a cute couple." 

"Whu... whu... what?" Syaoran stuttered, the burning sensation of the unknown magic forgotten as his face turned interesting shades of red. She couldn't possibly mean... 

Sakura's eyes bugged out, words failing her as she too started to turn odd shades of red. The obaasan couldn't possibly think... 

The old woman smiled dreamily, her emerald green eyes seemed to sparkle from within. "Ah, you children are so lucky to find your true love at such an early age." 

"Hooeee," Sakura weakly attempted to smile, her eyes closed. She dared not look at Li-kun, she'd die from total embarrassment. "We're not-" 

"Oh, you darlings have nothing to worry about," the old woman reached out, grasping Sakura's left hand and Syaoran's right hand. "Not a word of this meeting shall pass my lips. I am not one to hinder true love, especially today. For today I have had a revelation." She shook the bewildered pair's hands in excitement. "My life has changed completely. I must go and find my own true love and rectify that one single mistake that changed my life." 

"That's..." Sakura weakly tugged her arm, trying to free her hand from the woman's impassioned hold. "... wonderful." 

"Yes it is, isn't it?" The woman shook Sakura and Syaoran's hands, placing them against each other before releasing them as if in afterthought. 

Sakura and Syaoran looked down at their hands, then looked up at each other. The air around them almost whistled from their haste to put a good yard's distance between themselves. Crimson blushes painted both of their cheeks as the looked anywhere but at each other. 

Sakura blanched as the old woman once _again_ took ahold of her left hand. But instead of waving it around like a lunatic, the woman placed something within Sakura's grasp, curling Sakura's fingers around whatever it was. "Here now, think of it as a gift from someone who doesn't need it anymore." So said, the old woman smiled charmingly at them both and then headed off down the street at an extremely brisk pace. 

The seconds ticked by in bewildered silence as Sakura and Syaoran watched the old woman quickly fade from sight. Kerberus, who had kept his perch on Sakura's right shoulder, was the first one to break the silence. "That was really weird." 

"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off weakly. She blinked, then looked down to see just what the obaasan had given her. Her eyes bugged out as they beheld a very large, folded, crisp stack of thousand yen bills. "Hoooeee! I... I... I..." She stuttered as Kerberus whistled appreciatively in her ear, "I can't take this!" 

"Now now..." 

The trio started in surprise. A young man had emerged from the same direction the obaasan had come. His messy brown hair fluttered slightly in the gentle night breeze as he slowly walked towards them. He wore a pair of faded blue jeans and a battered brown, leather jacket over a simple white t-shirt. His white tennis shoes were also worn and dusty, as if they had seen countless miles of travel. Of his face, they could only make out the secretive smile he gave in the pale moonlight. "A gift given freely and from the heart, should be treasured." 

Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Sakura as the young man drew closer. She felt warm and heavy, almost like those times when her father or her brother would comfort her when she was feeling down. She waited transfixed, her thoughts only upon this strange man and what he was saying. What he was saying was important... _very_ important. 

"Such a waste Kinomoto-san, spending your youth chasing after phantoms and fantasies when you should be enjoying the company of your friends instead." His smile was gentle. The endless depths of his soft brown eyes, now close enough to be seen, glittered from within. 

Syaoran's indrawn breath hissed as he stepped in front of Sakura, blocking the Arcana from her. "That's far enough," his eyes narrowed dangerously as he watched the 'man' before him. 

Kerberus fluttered around Sakura's face, calling her name. His attempts were futile. She couldn't hear him. She was instead lost within a sea of brown, waiting expectantly for her new fate to be told. 

The man frowned at Syaoran, perturbed at this interruption. After a moment's passing, he smiled. "I would change your fate Li Syaoran, but you have already done so. My intervention would be unnecessary at this point." His gaze traveled from Syaoran to Sakura and back. "Kinomoto Sakura on the other, has another fate to be chosen. One that would make her happier, I think." 

Syaoran scowled, the burning from before returning stronger now. Whatever magic this 'man' used, it was very bad for his health. Staying close to this Arcana would be dangerous, but he couldn't abandon Sakura. "Stay away from her. She doesn't need anyone else choosing her fate for her." 

The young man scowled in return, his eyes darkening with mild distaste. He stared at the boy blocking him from his duty for several minutes. Then he blinked in confusion, as if something odd had just occurred to them. Taking several steps back, he smiled weakly, waving his hands in embarrassment. "Oh... so sorry. Didn't realize my magic was having that kind of effect on you. Very sorry! It doesn't hurt too much does it?" 

Sakura blinked, her sluggish mind picking up the word 'hurt'. Hurt meaning pain, which wasn't good. Li-kun being in pain, which was much worse. As if the very concept had detonated a bomb within her mind, she instantly shook off the Arcana's magic. 

Kerberus goggled as she stepped forward, gently reaching up and tugging on Syaoran's jacket. "It's okay, Li-kun. You should go. I'll be fine on my own." 

Syaoran turned his head to the side, keeping one eye on the Arcana while looking back at Sakura from the corner of the other. "I don't think that's a good idea." 

"That's strange." The man stared at them in consternation, his head tilted to the side. "You shouldn't be able to do that. Only fate can counter fate..." He shrugged and smiled, not wanting to give anything away. "Oh well, I don't suppose you could just forget about this little meeting..." He winced as all three of them shot him a stony glare, "Didn't think so." 

He shrugged once more, grinning now. "I guess that's that. I'm not much of a fighter. I only have a limited control of the fate you choose for yourself. And... since you're unwilling to relinquish _this_ fate... I guess I lose." He bowed, his form becoming indistinct. "My sister must be starting to get lonely. As a gentleman, I would be remiss in not keeping her company." 

Sakura blinked as he faded away, a glittering gold card appearing where he had stood. She walked over and picked it up. It was heavy in her hand, as if it were really made of gold. The young man hung upside down, a rope tied around one foot. He smiled a secretive smile, one eye closed in a wink. "The Hanged Man..." 

"Nice guy," Kero-chan flittered above her head as Syaoran came to stand beside her. "Probably the only one in the bunch." 

"Yeah..." She shook her head in bemusement, then looked over at Syaoran in worry. "Are you all right?" 

He nodded, "I'm fine." Without the Arcana to the maintain it, the magic was swiftly dissipating. It was still uncomfortable, but not painful like it had been before. But why had it affected him like that? Did it have something to do with him having a fate the Arcana couldn't change? It was confusing. 

"This... _he_ wasn't the card that's involved with Yukito-san?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Sakura could hope. 

"No," Syaoran shook his head, his expression darkening. "No he wasn't." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

AHAHAHA! I finished it! The ending sucks rocks, but I DID finish it! I'm so happy! Good lord! If only my other fanfics were this easy to write. *beats on Rain some* You know, the Hanged Man probably IS the only nice card in the deck. Poor Sakura... 

Oh, my prereaders have been a little confused over the Hanged Man and why he's so nice with that kind of name. Well the Arcana are based off of Tarot cards and take their personalities and powers from them. The Hanged Man represents a change or reversal of mind, among other things. So I gave him the power to 'change a person's fate' by allowing them to follow up on a decision they might have made in the past (but didn't) that might have been good for them. (i.e. Sakamura-san leaving Tokyo, the obaasan expressing her love to her old flame, Sakura NOT chasing after the cards). As this sort of _release_ tends to make people happy, their material possessions tend to lose value and thus they forget them or give them away. Please note, that these 'changes of fate' aren't necessarily a _good_ thing and thus can cause alot of havoc. 

Next: The school is in disarray! Tomoyo-chan to the rescue! 


	4. Chapter 3: The Tower

**Card Captor Sakura ~ Arcana  
Chapter 3 - The Tower**  


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Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. Original characters are mine. Please don't use them without consulting me first. 

Spoiler, Timeline and Ect. Warning: This story takes place after the Clow Cards are collected and, er, Yue's fun and games. That's it. No Eriol, no Suppi-chan, no Ruby Moon and yeah, Yukito's secret is a bit important to the plot. Sakura is sixteen in this story. This story is a bit dark compared to canon CCS, you are warned. People are going to get hurt and/or possibly dead. Please use discretion if you find that sort of thing offensive. 

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A full, blood-red moon shone down upon the forest. It's oppressive light painted the trees crimson, causing them to appear almost like they were bloodstained. It was cold here beneath the trees. The wind did not blow, and even without it the air felt like ice burning against the skin. It was cold and dark and silent and still the feeling of being hunted by something from the shadows grew. It grew and fed the fear within, a fear of being caught that felt as icy as the air. The fear grew until nothing else mattered save escaping the hunter that followed relentlessly behind. 

"Stop it!" 

Minamino Yuri screamed in terror as she bolted up in bed. The staccato beat of her heart roared in her ears as she gasped for breath. She blinked, her eyes clearing as she saw that she was in her room, on her bed and not running for her life somewhere in a dark, cold forest. 

Sighing, she collapsed back onto her pillow. The nightmare still lingered in her mind, refusing to fade. It had felt so real, as if she had been there... being hunted... by something. Yuri shivered at the thought. She was letting her imagination run away with this stupid nightmare. 

Grumbling to herself, Yuri rolled over and drew the blankets up beneath her chin. She was being silly. It had just been a nightmare after all. True, it had been a bad one, but still it was just a nightmare. 

Just a nightmare... 

** ~*~**

Sakura stared agape at the huge, dark trees that rose above her into the night sky. She shivered, hugging her arms to her body, as a cold wind whirled around her. Where was she? How had she gotten here? And in her pajamas no less. Her bare feet burned from where they touched the icy cold ground. 

She was going to catch her death out here if she didn't start moving. The thin material of her pajamas stood no chance against the wind and her feet were already starting to feel as cold as the ground she stood upon. 

A 'hoe' died on her lips as she turned. She shivered again, this time from something more than just the wind. There was... something out there. Her blood raced in fear as the moonlight painted everything, even the shadows, a blood red. There was something out there. 

Something... was hunting... out there... 

Her mind screamed at her to run from this thing she couldn't see. But she stood there, rooted to that spot, and waited. Somehow, she wasn't sure how, she knew that she wasn't the one being hunted. Something else was that thing's prey tonight. 

What was it? 

She _had_ to know. She had to know what it was. Somehow, someway, it was vitally important for her to know. She didn't know why, but she knew she had to see it. She had to know what it was. 

The silence lengthened until finally it was broken by the sound of rustling, a crackling of leaves as something moved against them. The fear within Sakura grew into an unthinking terror. But still, she waited. It was coming. 

Sakura jerked around, her ears catching the soft rustling of the underbrush behind her. A feeling of oppressive malice blanketed the forest around her in that single moment. Her eyes widened as she stumbled backwards, the instinct to flee pushing itself to the forefront of her mind. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it. 

It was here already. 

A woman's chuckle issued from deep within the shadows. It was perhaps the most demonic sound Sakura had ever heard. It echoed in her ears, clawing at her mind, whispering of unending pain and madness. 

"You know.... you can die in your dreams," the voice purred, dark humor imbuing each syllable until the words themselves became a death sentence. Glittering sparks of silver and white filled Sakura's vision as the voice continued, "Here, let me show you." 

"Stop it!" 

Sakura winced, something smacking against her forehead as she attempted to flee from... her bed? She blinked, sparks still dancing before her eyes, as she rubbed her forehead. A dream, it must have been a dream. Just a dream... 

Sakura turned, her eyes not really registering anything until they fell upon the figure that stood beside the bed. The figure, no, the 'woman' who was giving Sakura a most unamused glare while tending to a smacked hand. 

"Excitable aren't we?" The Magician scowled and soothingly rubbed the smarting hand that Sakura had inadvertently run into with her forehead. "That was rather uncalled for." 

"Whu-whu-what?" Sakura managed finally. She was completely confused. First that nightmare and then to wake up to this? What was the Magician doing standing beside her bed? 

She... it! Was a card again wasn't she? It! It's a card not a she... Isn't it?! 

Where was Kero-chan? Oh, over there playing a video game with the Hanged Man. What in the world? What was he thinking?! 

"Hoe!" Sakura blinked, her mind refusing to combine any of what she was seeing into something she could make sense of, "What's going on?" 

Kero-chan looked back at her, his paws still furiously working the controller, "Good morning Sakura-chan! Ack!" Realizing his mistake, the little guardian returned his attention to the game. But it was too late, the screen flashed 'KNOCK OUT' as his fighter was literally knocked out of the picture. 

Kero-chan glared up at his snickering opponent, "You sneak! You were just waiting for me to get distracted!" He blinked, a suspicious glint entering his eyes. "You didn't happen to _make_ Sakura-chan wake up at that particular moment did you?" 

"Who me?" The Hanged Man asked innocently, "I have a much higher sense of honor than that." He smirked down at the grumbling Clow guardian. "Face it, I won fair and square." His gloating done, he turned his attention to the bewildered teenager who was watching them with a somewhat vacant stare. "Good morning Sakura-chan!" 

"Hey now," Kero-chan growled, "Who said you could call her Sakura-chan?" 

The Hanged Man blinked down at him curiously, "You call her Sakura-chan. So why can't I call her Sakura-chan?" 

"Because... because... because..." Kero-chan sputtered, his wings fluttering in supreme agitation. "It's just not right when _you_ say it!" 

The Hanged Man shook his head in mock sorrow, "That's not a very good reason Kerberus. Really, maybe you're just jealous." 

"_Jealous?!_" 

"Would you two knock it off!" The Magician snarled. She sighed, reining in her flashfire temper as she slowly shook her head. "I don't know how I'm going to put up with the both of you." 

"Because you love us, of course." The Hanged Man beamed as he came to stand beside his fellow Arcana. "Or at least me. After all, you're my oneechan." 

"Don't push your luck. You know it doesn't work with me," The Magician frowned, turning her attention back to Sakura. "He was driving me insane in card form. So we popped out for awhile and _they_," she waved at the two culprits in question, "started playing a video game after we assured your little Clow _pet_ that we weren't going to do anything to _you_." 

Kero-chan bristled, "Oi!" The Magician sneered at him in disdain. 

"Hoeee," Sakura slowly slid down until she was sitting admist her blankets. "And then?" 

"_You_ were having a nightmare," The Magician pointed at Sakura. "I was tired of watching _them_," she waved again at the other two, "So I was going to see what you were dreaming about," She glared at Sakura as she continued, "At least I _was_ until you smacked into my hand with that hard head of yours." 

"Hoe, I'm sorry!" Sakura rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked over at her clock. "I guess I should start getting ready for school." She grinned as something amusing occurred to her, "Won't niichan be surprised that I'm up so early." 

"Why don't you skip today, Sakura-chan?" The Hanged Man winked at her in good humor. "After all, you've got all that yen from that nice old woman I pointed in your direction. I'm sure she wouldn't want it to go to waste." 

Sakura blushed furiously as she vividly began to remember the night before. The obaasan had thought she and Li-kun... and that money... the Hanged Man had _pointed_ her in their direction? Sakura stared dazedly up at the young man who was grinning impishly at her. 

"Of course, that was my doing Sakura-chan." He smiled down at her gently. "She had no need of material wealth anymore. She was going to reunite with the love of her life. And all I had to do was make all the objections in her mind seem as insignificant as they really were." 

"I would have helped you too." His frown was a mix of regret and guilt. "But I didn't know my magic would react so badly with your friend's. It's such a rare reaction after all. I'm awfully sorry about the whole thing. I don't want to hurt people, just help them realize the path they haven't chosen." 

"But I don't want to choose another path!" Sakura bounced out of bed, "Another _path_ would mean not knowing Kero-chan or Li-kun or Yue-san..." She sighed, remembering that Yukito-san and thus, Yue-san was missing. 

He shrugged, unconcerned. "If you say so Sakura-chan." 

Sakura shook her head, there was nothing she could do about Yukito-san at the moment, "And! I'm not skipping! I'm going to school!" 

The Magician chuckled wryly as Sakura started flying around the room to begin preparations for school. The Arcana turned, her gaze falling upon her 'little brother', and smirked, "Would've helped her huh? You'll never change." 

"She would have been happy in her new life. They're always happy." 

"Perhaps, but would she have been happier than she is in this one?" She sighed and shook her head, "Someday, I hope you understand what it is to play with fate." 

"Now now oneechan," The Hanged Man wagged a finger at his 'older sister', "Isn't this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?" 

She smirked at him, "Probably. Doesn't mean I'm not right though. After all, you can do alot worse to a person than just killing them." She turned, her eyes following the blur that was Sakura, "I still don't like her... I hope the others hurry up and kill her." 

"I don't," He smiled playfully, "You're alot mellower when you have a master." 

Sakura zipped past the Arcana pair, her uniform flailing behind from where she had it draped over her shoulder. She slammed her bedroom door open and darted across the hallway and past a stunned Touya, slamming the bathroom door closed in his face. 

Touya blinked blearily as "Good morning niichan!" drifted through the closed door. What was the little monster doing up so early? He shook his head, taking a peek around the doorjamb of Sakura's bedroom. All he saw was that weird stuffed toy of hers and two odd looking cards laying atop the mound of blankets on her bed. Strange, he could have sworn he heard a conversation going on in there. Oh well, he chocked it up to lack of sleep over worrying about Yuki. 

A short time later, Touya sat at the dining room table watching amazedly as Sakura managed to flip pancakes over the stove without making a mess. Not only had she gotten up _early_, but she had gotten dressed and ready for school in record time _and_ had even started fixing breakfast for them both without having to be reminded that it was her day to cook. It was a good thing their father had left on that trip to Europe a few days ago, he probably would have keeled over from the shock of it all. Yuki would have- 

All thoughts about Sakura's strange behavior came to a screeching halt as Touya's mind returned to the subject he had been up all night worrying about. Touya leaned forward rubbing his sleep-craving eyes, his elbows braced against the tabletop. Where was Yuki? 

He wanted to call the Police. He wanted to do _something_. But for the life of him he didn't know what he could do. Yuki had always been a little strange, somewhat less that human. Well admittedly, somehow, someway, he had always known Yuki wasn't human. And _that_ was the problem. If he called the police or anyone else, then eventually that fact about Yuki might come out. That would be a disaster of cataclysmic proportions. 

What would his father think? What would _Sakura_ think? Touya shuddered at the thought. He hated doubting his family, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to stop. What was he going to do? 

"Niichan? ... Oniichan?" 

Sakura's concerned voice cut through Touya's spiraling thoughts. Dragging himself away from his misery, he blinked and found that he had been a bit out of touch with reality. A glass of juice and a plate of cooling pancakes with a large dollop of near melted butter sat before him. Sakura had obviously placed them before him some time ago as she had already eaten halfway through her own stack of pancakes. 

She watched him worriedly as he woke up from where ever it was that he had been, "Are you okay?" 

Touya sighed, he'd have to watch it. It wouldn't do to have his little sister thinking he was a basketcase. "Ah... I'm fine Sakura." 

Sakura watched him quietly as he began to eat. She knew better than to take _that_ at face value. He was very worried about Yukito-san, that was obvious. But was that all? Did he know something else... No, of course not. This was her big brother after all. He always came across as this big, tough guy. But really, he was a certifiable softie about some things. Smiling softly, she whispered, "I'm sure Yukito-san is fine niichan." 

Touya stared at her in wonder. He hadn't expected that. "Ah... I hope so Sakura, I hope so." 

** ~*~**

Tomoyo's eyes were wide as saucers in shock when Sakura leisurely walked through the front gates of the school. Sakura-chan was on time. Actually that wasn't true, her friend was early. Sakura-chan was never early, usually she was late. 

Tomoyo shook her head in bewilderment as she waved to catch her friend's attention. "Good morning Sakura-chan!" 

Sakura waved cheerfully in reply as she headed over to Tomoyo, "Good morning Tomoyo-chan!" 

"Are you all right Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo frowned in concern, "You're... early." 

"Oh, I'm fine!" Sakura beamed. A moment later she frowned worriedly as she looked around the schoolyard. "Has Li-kun shown up yet?" 

"No," Tomoyo crossed her arms and pinned Sakura with a stern gaze. "Something's bothering you. And don't tell me you're fine. I know better." 

Sakura visibly shrank under the questioning, "Well... Li-kun was hurt by the Arcana we ran into last night and I need to check and see if he's okay today..." 

"What?!" Tomoyo gaped at her friend, "You were out with Li-kun _last night_ and you ran into an Arcana and you didn't call me?!" 

"I'm sorry!" Sakura winced, hoping she could stave off the coming storm. "Hoe! It just happened! Me and niichan went over to Yukito-san's house because Yukito-san is missing, Li-kun and Kero-chan says it's because of some Arcana card, and I called Li-kun over to see if he could figure something out and I had to make sure they didn't kill each other then he walked me home because niichan had already left and then we ran into this crazy obaasan which was really weird and then the Hanged Man showed up and he tried to put the whammy on me but Li-kun was in pain because the Arcana's magic and well he surrendered and I got home and I just sort of... forgot!" 

Tomoyo blinked, trying to make sense of Sakura's apology and everything else that had come with it. "I... see..." 

Sakura's eyes glittered with guilt as she grabbed Tomoyo's hands. "I'm really really really sorry! It won't happen again and... hoe, there's Li-kun! Come on!" 

Sakura, dragging a rather dazed Tomoyo in her wake, hurried over to Syaoran as he walked through the school gates. Sakura waved energetically to get his attention. When she was in speaking distance she smiled shyly, "Good morning Li-kun. How are you feeling?" 

"I'm fine. I told you I would be." Syaoran scowled. She was worried about him, he could tell. He did not like making her worry. "It was just a fluke and I've taken steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. So you don't have to worry. I'll be fine." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Uhm..." Tomoyo lightly tapped Sakura and Syaoran both on the shoulder. "I'm not quite sure I understand. Could one of you please explain exactly what happened last night?" 

"Hoe." 

** ~*~**

After having been forced to suffer through a harried explanation of the previous night's events, a rather put-out Tomoyo, Sakura's guilty conscience for not getting in touch with her best friend, having to deal with the weird vibes that new girl, Yuri, who looked like she didn't have a very good night either, put off and getting through the first half of the school day, Syaoran could now relax for the entire lunch break. At least, that was the idea. Unfortunately, the bad luck that seemed to be dogging him of late grabbed his spine and started rattling it as he walked by the closed door of the school library. 

It was that feeling from last night again, slightly different, but indelibly the same. Syaoran thanked god that he had spent a good portion of the night, after his and Sakura's encounter with The Hanged Man, casting protection spells upon himself. Thanks to those particular spells there was no pain this time. Instead, an infinitely powerful feeling of wrongness buzzed at the very edges of his mind, hinting at thing that weren't meant to be known by man. 

There was an Arcana, right here, right now, in their school library. 

Sighing in resignation, Syaoran brushed aside all thoughts of relaxation and food as he opened the door and walked in. It was quiet within, not surprising, though there was an occasional low murmuring of unintelligible conversation. There was always more people in the library than usual at lunch break. Most were there to study, some there simply because they enjoyed reading and a scant odd few who just seemed to like the dark, musty atmosphere the room seemed to collect. All in all, nothing out of the ordinary. 

Well, nothing except the discordant feel of ancient magic that blanketed the entire room. It was stifling. Syaoran briefly wondered how even those without sensitivity could stand it. Or perhaps it was just him, maybe he was just becoming oversensitive to the Arcana. The elders had always warned about such things, especially with older magics. Then again, it could just be the fact that he was the only truly trained sensitive in the area, and the magic of the Arcana was just unconsciously focusing more on him because of it. That was a lovely thought. 

A glittering over by the librarian's desk caught his eye as he slowly walked past the stacks. A silver filigree hourglass rest upon the wooden surface of the desk. The highly polished silver caught and reflected the meager light of the library, giving it an ethereal glow. It was from there the feeling of magic originated, Syaoran realized instantly. The hourglass was the Arcana. 

Crossing his arms, Syaoran leaned against the end of the closest bookshelf and contemplated his discovery. It seemed inert at the moment, but there really was no telling. He could go up there and find out, but that would be extremely stupid on his part since he couldn't seal it in a room full of people. He'd have to wait until nightfall to be assured of no possible witnesses. 

Syaoran scowled. He did not like having his hands tied by technicalities. He was going to have to wait, and he was going to have to tell Sakura about it. If she found out he'd deliberately not told her about another Arcana, she'd be livid. As for Tomoyo, having her miss another opportunity to film _her_ Sakura-chan would be like digging his own grave. Syaoran grimaced. It would be far from pleasant. 

He shook his head as he turned to leave. Might as well go find them and tell them. It would give Sakura something to think about other than her guilt from the lack of communication with Tomoyo the night before. 

The silver sand within the hourglass flashed a brief, dull crimson as Syaoran left its new realm. It could wait. It had all the time in the world. 

** ~*~**

"Hoe! Another one? Already?" Sakura nearly wailed at the news. She and Tomoyo had been having a picnic lunch under a tree in the schoolyard when Li-kun had found them. Sakura eyes bugged out as Tomoyo literally lit up like a christmas tree an instant later. 

"That's great!" Tomoyo bounced up from the picnic blanket, giving Li-kun a quick, exuberant hug that made Sakura's eyes bug out even more. "Yay yay yay!" Letting go of the somewhat flustered Li-kun, Tomoyo beamed down at Sakura, who was still sitting on the ground in a bit of a daze. "I finally get to film Sakura-chan's new adventure!" 

Sakura blinked, somewhat weirded out, as Tomoyo started skipping in little circles around Li-kun. All the while, muttering to herself about what costume would suit Sakura-chan the best tonight. Tonight, when she would again capture her cute Sakura-chan being brave on film! 

And so it went for the rest of the day. Tomoyo in her own happy little world, thinking of how to make Sakura-chan as cute as humanly possible for their grand adventure tonight. Sakura, who was getting spooked by the occasional maniacal giggle, that really didn't sound sane, coming from Tomoyo-chan's direction. And Syaoran, who was wondering where he let his brain go when he decided to tell them both about the new Arcana. 

Around seven o'clock that night, after Sakura had given Touya a rather lame excuse, which amazingly enough he bought, Tomoyo had bundled Sakura, Kero-chan _and_ Syaoran into the costume van and had one of her cute bodyguards drive them all back to the school. Upon arrival, Tomoyo had handed Sakura a red and pink mountain of fabric and pushed her hapless victim into the back of the van to get dressed. Unfortunately for Syaoran, Tomoyo wasn't quite finished yet. 

"Please Li-kun! I made it to your measurements! And _see_," Tomoyo held up an almost exact duplicate of Li-kun's fighting outfit, save that it was _bright_ red instead of green. "I only changed the color! I assure you it's far more comfortable to wear too!" 

"Wait a minute!" Syaoran slowly backed away from what he considered his doom. He held his hands in front of him, knowing such a weak display wouldn't ward her off, but unsure as to what would. "Just how _did_ you get my measurements?" 

"Ohohoho!" Tomoyo grinned widely. "A girl's got to have her secrets! Now come on." She dropped the silky-soft material across Syaoran's outstretched hands. "Go try it on. If you don't like it, you can just take it off later, right?" 

Syaoran sighed in defeat, "And just where am I supposed to try this on? Sakura's in the back remember?" 

"Why the front of course." Tomoyo smiled at her victory. "I designed it to be quite spacious and the door into the back _is_ closed and locked. You'll have more than enough room up there without fear of Sakura-chan accidentally barging in on you! Now shoo, I promise _I_ won't peek." 

"Yeah right," Syaoran muttered as he trudged around to the front of the van. "I bet there's a hidden camera in there somewhere." 

Tomoyo's smile widened at the sound of a slamming door. That had turned out to be alot easier than she had thought it would. Now, if she could just get him to dress in something other than his usual battle garb. Saving that train of thought for later, she turned around and knocked on the back door of the van. "Sakura-chan? Are you ready yet?" 

The door opened just a crack, "I don't know, Tomoyo-chan. It's kinda drafty." 

"I'm sure you look wonderful in it Sakura-chan." Tomoyo whipped out her trusty video camera and pulled the van door open, revealing a rather hesitant Clow Mistress bedecked in her newest costume. 

It was somewhat simple in design, made more to accentuate Sakura's maturing curves. A layer of light pink silk peeked out from beneath the brilliant red of the psuedo-yukata with a sash of the same pink material circling her waist and knotted over her left hip. The skirt flowed up from her left knee to mid-thigh on the right in a daring diagonal cut. The sleeves billowed slightly, the edges tied up with thin pink ribbons halfway between Sakura's elbows and wrists. Thick red ribbons wrapped around her ankles, holding the red slippers that graced her feet in place. 

"Very beautiful Sakura-chan, and very sexy." Tomoyo winked cheerfully from behind her video camera. 

"Tomoyo-chan," Sakura rolled her eyes heavenward in resignation. There really was no escaping Tomoyo when she was like this. Looking around, Sakura blinked in confusion. "Where's Li-kun?" 

"Right here." 

Sakura whirled around in surprise, her eyes widening in astonishment at what she saw. Li-kun, in his battle outfit, except it was the same color red as _her_ outfit. What in the world? 

"Ahhh, so cute! A matched pair!" Tomoyo skipped around them, getting a shot of all sides, while the pair in question blushed as red as their clothes. "Don't you agree Kero-chan?" Stopping, she looked around curiously when there was no forthcoming answer. "Kero-chan?" Now that she thought about it, Tomoyo hadn't seen hide nor tufted tail of Kero-chan since they had arrived at the school. 

"I think I saw him heading over there..." Sakura's voice trailed off as she pointed towards the school entrance. Kero-chan was sitting stock-still a few feet in front of the doors. He kept staring at them as if entranced. "Kero-chan?" 

"Eh?" Kerberus shook his head and looked up at them as they approached. "What?" 

Sakura kneeled down next to the little guardian, a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kerberus fluttered up from the ground. "It's nothing really." He looked back towards the school doors, giving them an odd look. "Well, it's just weird. The magic feels familiar, like I've encountered it before. But I've never been around any of the Arcana. So how could I know what they feel like?" 

"Hoe." Sakura shrugged. "Sounds complicated. But I'm sure you'll figure it out." She smiled encouragingly. Gripping the key of the seal, already summoned into staff form, she turned to Tomoyo and Syaoran with a determined glint in her eyes. "Are we ready?" 

"Just a minute," Tomoyo reached down, fishing around for something in her pocket. She smiled as she drew out a long, thick ribbon made of the same red material as Sakura's outfit. Humming to herself, Tomoyo used it to tie a bow around Kero-chan's neck. Grinning widely with camera at ready, she stepped back to get all three card captors in the shot. "Okay, all set now." 

"Eheh," Sakura sweatdropped at what she tended to classify as 'typical Tomoyo', meaning great friend but kinda crazy. Turning, she smiled at Syaoran and walked the last few feet to the doors. "Let's go." 

The doors opened silently and with little effort. Sakura frowned at this and gave the others a worried look. "Shouldn't they be locked?" 

Syaoran scowled as he slowly stepped past Sakura and into the dark entrance hall. "I don't like this." 

** ~*~**

All the lights in the library had been turned off hours ago, though around the librarian's desk they would hardly have been necessary. The hourglass cast off its own brilliant illumination, bathing the desk and nearby shelves in a soft silver glow. The sand within the glass glittered, taking on a reddish-hue as the Clow Mistress and her friends entered the school below and walked into the Arcana's influence. 

The sand shifted and began flowing upwards as the outer doors to the school swung shut. Now the game would truly begin. 

** ~*~**

"This is worse than that time with the Shadow card," Sakura mumbled as the group slowly walked past the rows of shoe lockers. She shivered slightly, her senses hyper-tuned for any sign of weirdness that would herald an attack. Oh yes, this was much worse than the Shadow card. Reaching the doors leading to the inner hallways, Sakura glanced at Li-kun worriedly, then turned her attention to her best friend. 

Tomoyo-chan was following a short distance behind them, the light from her video camera illuminating the immediate area around her. Kero-chan hovered above Tomoyo's left shoulder, ready to defend against anything should the need arise. He was unusually silent, which was quite a disturbing change from his usual exuberant cheer. 

"Tomoyo-chan," Sakura started. "Please, please be care-" 

Reality rippled and took on a reddish-tinge as Sakura spoke her warning. And then, Tomoyo-chan and Kero-chan simply vanished... along with the floor. 

"-_ful_!" Sakura shrieked the last bit as she felt herself falling. She scrabbled at the doorknob, trying to stop her decent, but instead of holding her it turned in her grasp. The door swung open into the hallway as her hands slipped off the knob. A final desperate grab for the doorjamb in the now open doorway provided enough purchase for Sakura to hang on to though. 

She sighed in relief, then gasped for air as something wrapped around her waist and a heavy weight began to drag her down. Locking her muscles, Sakura held on for all she was worth. She was not going to fall. She was not going to fall. She was not going to fall. And, she didn't. 

Thanking whatever gods might be listening that she was a cheerleader, and thus able to actually manage this, Sakura looked down. A huge black, seemingly bottomless chasm loomed beneath her and Li-kun, who held a death grip around her waist. 

Syaoran glared down into the darkness, then looked up into Sakura blushing smile. He knew it had seemed too easy. 

"Hoe," Sakura winced, her arms were really starting to burn from the strain of holding them both up. "Li-kun, you're going to have to climb up first. I can't pull us both up." 

Syaoran blushed in return and nodded hesitantly. "O-okay." Bracing his feet against the chasm wall on either side of Sakura's legs, Syaoran slid his left arm tighter around her waist to get a better grip. Reaching up with his right hand to grasp Sakura's shoulder, Syaoran slowly inched up along her body, being extremely careful so as not to jar her. 

Sakura's face was almost as red as her dress by now. He was heavy, but not terribly so even though he _was_ a boy. Her blush deepened as she tried to think of anything to distract herself from the fact that this was Li-kun holding her, touching her. It was enough to drive her insane. Though she had to admit, this was rather pleasant. Even though her muscles and tendons were screaming at her from having to hold up all this weight for such an extended length of time, she was actually enjoying this. After all, it was an extremely rare occurrence for him to touch her at all. They were holding on for dear life, but she wouldn't trade this for anything. 

Sakura blinked as Li-kun released his hold on her shoulder, reached up past her head and firmly grasped the doorjamb. She turned her head to look over her shoulder. Her blush took on another hue, this time _as_ red as her dress, as she gazed into the amber-flecked brown of Li-kun's eyes. They were nose to nose, she could even feel his breath as he tightened his grip around her waist. 

Syaoran licked his lips and cleared his throat. "Up you go." He boosted her lithe body up and over the doorjamb, doing his best to avoid looking up her skirt at all costs. Muttering to himself, Syaoran hauled himself up beside her and sighed wearily. This was getting to be too much, entirely too much for him to handle. 

** ~*~**

Tomoyo gaped in utter confusion as she found herself not in the entrance hall but instead in a classroom. And there was no sign of Sakura-chan or Li-kun for that matter, just her and Kero-chan. She frowned in distress as she looked up at a thoroughly confused Kero-chan. "What happened? Where are we? Where's Sakura-chan?" 

Kerberus fluttered around Tomoyo in concern. "It must be the Arcana. For some reason it separated us from the others, but I don't know why. It could be to make us less of a threat or maybe something else." He shook his head. "I don't really know. But we should head for the library. If anything, we'll run into them there." 

"Okay." Tomoyo sighed mournfully. There went another chance to film Sakura-chan's great adventure. Oh well, at least there would be other times. Tomoyo consoled herself with that thought as she followed Kero-chan out past the classroom door and into the dark hallway. 

Miraculously, or perhaps suspiciously, they had ended up on the second floor. The same floor the library was on. It was only a short trek down one hallway and into the next before they reached the closed door to the library. A quick turn of the knob and a gentle shove opened the way into the dark, musty stacks. A soft glimmering light from beyond the rows of bookshelves provided more than enough illumination to see where they were going. 

Tomoyo and Kero-chan stopped short at the last bookshelf. Kero-chan glared heatedly at the glowing hourglass, while Tomoyo zoomed in with her video camera. Tomoyo blinked, the sand was running up. No wait, it was changing color. The reddish hue was changing to a light blue and the sand was even changing direction. It was falling down now, like a normal hourglass would. 

Tomoyo frowned worriedly. For some reason that she couldn't quite figure out, she did not like what the hourglass was doing one little bit. It did not bode well for Sakura-chan. 

** ~*~**

Sakura sighed, rubbing some feeling back into her arms as she slowly climbed to her feet. She was really going to hurt tomorrow. Oh well, as long as they were both okay, everything was fine. Sighing once more, Sakura hoped that Tomoyo-chan was okay and that Kero-chan was taking good care of her. She trusted Kero-chan to protect Tomoyo-chan, but there was a part of her that just couldn't help worrying about her best friend. It had only gotten worse after the fiasco with the Clow cards, and the Magician hadn't exactly helped either. 

Syaoran came to stand beside her. He looked down at Sakura in reassurance as he asked, "Ready?" 

Sakura looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, let's go." Still smiling she turned around and promptly ran into a wall that had just appeared out of nowhere. "What?" Sakura rubbed her nose and glared at the wall in pure annoyance. She turned around to go the other way and gasped. There was a wall there too. They were boxed in. There were walls all around them. Even the doorway they had just climbed through was now mysteriously a blank wall. "What's going on?" 

"Hazarding a guess, I'd say it's our newest Arcana." Syaoran grimaced, then pulled out an ofuda and began chanting. Unfortunately, the wall was quite stubborn and refused to budge even with the application of his spell. Syaoran scowled and shook his head. This was going to be tough. 

Sakura frowned and summoned forth the Sword card. Maybe it could get through where Syaoran's spells couldn't. She swung the Sword, the blade easily sinking into the wall as if it were a simple illusion. Sakura blinked in confusion, the Sword went through fine but she couldn't pass her hand through the wall. It felt completely solid to her even though the Sword was buried up to the hilt. Pulling the Sword out only revealed a clean surface, as if she hadn't had a magical Sword sticking out of it a moment ago. 

Sakura banished the Sword and scratched her head. Okay, that didn't work. She wasn't going to give up, but she had no idea what to try next. Maybe Li-kun had an idea... 

Before Sakura could ask Syaoran what he thought they should try next, the walls rippled and vanished. The hallway stretched out before both of their utterly flabbergasted stares. Even the entrance hall and all the rows of shoe lockers were back to normal. 

"Hoe." 

** ~*~**

Tomoyo smiled in triumph as the blue faded out of the hourglass sand, leaving behind a soft silver glitter. She picked up her video camera once again and stepped back to get a good shot of the librarian's desk. 

Kerberus pranced across the surface of the desk. Plopping down next to their quarry, he beamed up at her and gave his best for the camera. "That was really smart thinking Tomoyo-chan. Turning the hourglass on its side and all. I'm really impressed." 

Tomoyo grinned at his praise and raised her hand up in the victory sign. Sakura-chan would be so proud of her! She, Daidouji Tomoyo, had defeated an Arcana card all on her own. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Yes, I'm ending it there. AHAHAHAHA! What can I say, I'm evil. *giggles maniacally* Don't you just love the _chasm scene_ with Sakura and Syaoran? That was awfully fun to write. *EG* This chapter didn't take too long to write. I'm impressed with myself and that's an awfully hard thing to do. As I've already got the next chapter plotted out it shouldn't be more than a month or two. *crosses her fingers* 

Next: Oniichan had better not see us like this! Tomoyo-chan help!! 


	5. Chapter 4: The High Priestess

**Card Captor Sakura ~ Arcana  
Chapter 4 - The High Priestess**  


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Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. Original characters are mine. Please don't use them without consulting me first. 

Spoiler, Timeline and Ect. Warning: This story takes place after the Clow Cards are collected and, er, Yue's fun and games. That's it. No Eriol, no Suppi-chan, no Ruby Moon and yeah, Yukito's secret is a bit important to the plot. Sakura is sixteen in this story. This story is a bit dark compared to canon CCS, you are warned. People are going to get hurt and/or possibly dead. Please use discretion if you find that sort of thing offensive. 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

"A little closer!" 

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Syaoran muttered darkly as he and Sakura reluctantly obeyed Tomoyo's cheerful command. 

Sakura winced at his tone. "It's not so bad and it's the least we could do. She did capture the Arcana _and_ rescue us too. She didn't even ask Kero-chan to help her with it! Besides it's not really _that_ bad." Sakura looked up at him, a hesitant frown turning down the corner of her lips. "You don't mind do you?" She didn't want to force him into doing something he was uncomfortable with, even though secretly _she_ was enjoying herself immensely. 

"No! Of course not. It's just..." Syaoran trailed off. He couldn't tell her the real reason he was having a problem with this. He'd die from embarrassment, not to mention the fact that if he did, it would most assuredly lead to other _things_ that he just couldn't blurt out. Sighing mournfully, he shook his head. "Nevermind, it's not important." 

"Oh... 'kay." Sakura blinked, she didn't really understand, but it didn't seem to be bothering him _too_ much. She smiled softly as she leaned in closer to him. Oh yes, she was enjoying this. While she had been quite ready to kill Tomoyo-chan when her friend had insisted on this since the girl had _missed_ Sakura-chan's grand adventure, Sakura was rather pleased with the outcome. 

Here she was, walking in the park underneath the sakura trees at night, arm in arm with Li-kun. They were still dressed in the same outfits Tomoyo-chan had supplied for the capture of the Arcana at Tomoyo-chan's rather demanding insistence. It was starting to get a little bit chilly, but Sakura wasn't one to complain when she had something much more pleasant to think about. Really, she couldn't remember any of Tomoyo-chan's other 'suggestions' ever turning out as good as this one had. 

Tomoyo, of course, was following a few feet behind them, video taping the 'Romantic Night Stroll' as she had silently labeled it. If she had to miss Sakura-chan being heroic then by god she was going to film these two being mushy, even if she had to force them into doing it. 

The demand, er, suggestion hadn't exactly been worded like that. Of course not, Li-kun would never have agreed to it if Tomoyo had been as _blunt_ as she wished she could be with either of them. In all likelihood, he probably would have tried to make a run for it and that just wouldn't do. Instead, she'd tactfully suggested that they take a _nice_ stroll through the park so she could at least walk away from tonight with some kawaii footage of Sakura-chan _and_ Li-kun in _her_ costumes. Of course, the requisite 'do this or you will live to regret it come next Card' undercurrent had been present in Tomoyo's expression. But in her opinion, it was a necessary evil. Sakura-chan, being the wonderful friend that she was, had guilt tripped Li-kun into playing along and now here they all were. Tomoyo was _so_ happy! This was going to be a great tape! 

Kerberus, on the other hand, wasn't really paying much attention to anything in particular. Instead, he was perched smugly on Tomoyo-chan's free shoulder. His chest was puffed out and his head was held high. His wings were fanned out majestically behind him and his tail curled around his haunches, the tuft held up regally in front of his paws. He was so very proud and full of himself. Unlike Sakura-chan, _he_, the great Clow Guardian Kerberus, had been there to witness Tomoyo-chan's great deed when she had used her rarely seen card captoring abilities to outwit the ever so powerful Arcana. He would always remember the courage she had shown in the face of adversity. Maybe she would even celebrate by baking a cake. _That_ would be the perfect ending to such a wonderful adventure. 

It was really too bad, the watcher thought regretfully. They looked like they were having such a good time. It would be such a shame to ruin it all. But oh well, it was now time for this particular game to begin. Smiling gaily, the watcher slid back into the darkness harbored beneath the trees and away from the too-bright electric lights. There was wisdom in observing one's foe, but there was also wisdom in acting upon one's well laid plans. 

** ~*~**

Sakura wasn't back yet. 

Touya scowled and glanced up at the night sky as he closed the front door behind him. He didn't want to leave the house empty for Sakura to come home to, there were few things worse than coming home to an empty house, but he just couldn't seem to shake this odd feeling that he'd been having ever since his sister had left. The feeling that someone or something was watching him and waiting for him to _do_ something. It had gotten pretty unnerving after awhile. 

He didn't know who it was. He didn't know what it was he was supposed to do. He didn't even know if he should really be doing this. But he couldn't stay in the house with this bugging him. And he most certainly couldn't sleep with his nerves this frazzled, even though he desperately needed some. 

Shaking his head and telling himself that this was an extremely stupid idea, Touya slowly made his way down the front steps. He turned right at the street, following the lead of whatever this feeling was, and headed off in the direction of the park. 

On second though, maybe it was a good thing Sakura wasn't home after all. Otherwise, she'd either be laughing her head off at him or thinking he'd gone off the deep end over worrying about Yukito. Oh yes, crazy oniichan and his nutty ideas. Perfect. 

Then again, he never said he wasn't a sucker for punishment. 

** ~*~**

Strange, Tomoyo thought. The little red light on her video camera was starting to go off. But surely not... there hadn't been enough time for her to get through an entire tape. Well, no big deal. She had, of course, brought along a couple of blank tapes. Just in case. You never could tell how long capturing a card could take, after all. 

Humming cheerfully to herself, Tomoyo reached down into her bag for one of her extra tapes. She stopped dead in her tracks, a look of complete horror replacing her joyful contentment upon feeling nothing within the confines of her bag. 

"Eeehhh?!" 

Sakura and Syaoran whirled around at Tomoyo's outburst. Syaoran tensed, readying himself for any possible attacks. Sakura just blinked at Tomoyo as the girl frantically patted herself down trying to find the missing tapes. 

"Where are they? Where?!" 

"Hoe, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura sweatdropped as Tomoyo completely ignored her and continued searching. She looked questioningly up at Syaoran, who shook his head in mild disgust. Sighing, she looked back at her frantic friend and tried again. "Tomoyo-chan?" 

"Where are they?" Tomoyo wailed. She couldn't find the tapes. They weren't in her bag. They weren't in her coat pockets. They weren't anywhere. "I know I brought them with me." 

"To~mo~yo!" Sakura yelled, finally managing to capture the frantic girl's attention. 

Tomoyo looked up, her eyes wide in surprise at Sakura's outburst. "Yes, Sakura-chan?" 

Sakura crossed her arms and frowned slightly before asking, "What's wrong?" 

"My tape ran out! It shouldn't have run out yet... I guess it's just a bad tape." Tomoyo gestured pointedly at her video camera which held the offending tape. "And I was sure I put some extra tapes in my bag, but they're not here..." Bouncing her free hand off of her hip nervously, Tomoyo bit her bottom lip. "I guess I'll have to go all the way back to the van to get some extra tape." 

"Hoee," Sakura winced, this did not bode well. Syaoran just shook his head again and rolled his eyes. 

Tomoyo looked at the both of them, turning up the cuteness factor as far it would go, "You'll wait here for me while I go get some more tapes, won't you?" Clasping her hands together, she dredged up the inescapable puppy dog look and turned it on full force, "Pleeaase!" 

Sakura smiled weakly and waved her hands appeasingly, "Okay okay, we won't go anywhere. We'll stay right here!" 

"Thank you! I'll be right back!" Tomoyo beamed, then whirled around and shot off back towards the school. Kero-chan was still perched proudly on her shoulder, oblivious to the entire exchange as he was so wrapped up in his little fantasy of Tomoyo baking a cake to celebrate their latest victory. 

Sakura sighed and edged a few steps away from Syaoran as Tomoyo vanished from view. Without Tomoyo there to 'tape the video footage' there really wasn't any reason for her to crowd him... even if it was nice being that close to him. 

Syaoran coughed uncomfortably and reached up to tug at the collar of his unifo-, er, costume. Damn, it was hard enough not to blush as bright red as the material of his costume whenever he looked at Sakura in _her_ costume. Why did Tomoyo have to make it worse with her video idea? It wasn't that he really minded it all that much, but it was starting to be real difficult to ignore the way that Sakura was rubbing her legs together from the chill. And he didn't even have a coat to offer. 

Shivering suddenly from something other than the cold, Sakura hugged herself and glanced around hesitantly at the trees. It felt... it felt like something was watching her. She could almost swear it was the same feeling she got when there was a card around. But, there wasn't a hint of magic other than her own and Li-kun's in the air. 

Frowning, Syaoran looked over at Sakura who was studying the trees as if she expected something to jump out at them. "Is something wrong?" he asked in concern. Please, don't let it be another card, he prayed to whatever might be listening. Two Arcana from yesterday and one today was more than enough for his liking. 

"Hoe," Sakura breathed out in confusion and unconsciously stepped closer to Syaoran for comfort. "I don't know. It's like how I feel when there's a card around, but I don't actually feel anything of the sort. It's almost like a feeling of nothing when I know there should be something there." 

"That's odd. I don't feel anything at all," Syaoran said as he cautiously looked around at the trees. "But I trust your senses," he added hastily, not wanting to make it sound like he thought she was being silly. He didn't. He knew she had a better ability to sense magic than she'd ever admit to. "Can you pinpoint where it feels the strongest?" he asked after a moment spent trying to feel what she was and failing. 

"I'm not sure..." Sakura trailed off as she closed her eyes and tried to focus solely upon the strange sensation. Slowly, she raised her arm and pointed towards the direction that made her feel the most disturbed. Opening her eyes again, she found that her finger indicated further down the path and deeper into the park. "I think it's that way, whatever it is." 

"Okay," Syaoran muttered as he stepped forward half heartedly, shrugging to himself. No time like the present. "I guess we might as well get this over with," he announced as he pulled out an ofuda. It wouldn't hurt to have one already in hand. Just in case. He glanced back at Sakura and smiled as he caught her quietly chanting the last half of the spell to release the key. 

This was silly, Sakura thought as she hastily finished the spell and gripped the staff. What if this turned out to be absolutely nothing? Then she'd look like a total idiot. But, she just couldn't shake this feeling, nor could she ignore the other feeling that was welling up now: one of impending doom. Sighing and trying to steel herself against whatever might happen, she stepped up beside Li-kun and said, "I'm ready. Let's go." 

Syaoran nodded his assent and cautiously walked down the path. He watched the trees suspiciously, expecting something to jump out any second. Sakura walked silently beside him, doing the same with the trees closest to her. He didn't like this, not one little bit. How was he going to defend against something he couldn't even feel? He didn't want to have to depend solely on Sakura. She didn't deserve to have that type of pressure put on her, especially when it was just his own shortcoming complicating matters. 

Sakura frowned worriedly as she looked over at Li-kun. For some reason or another, she had this niggling suspicion that he was uncertain about something... maybe even angry. But why? It wasn't about her was it? She hadn't done something to upset him had she? No, couldn't be. She was just imagining things. This odd feeling was just confusing her. Speaking of which, Sakura shook her head and stopped suddenly. 

Syaoran halted a few steps ahead, realizing that she wasn't keeping up. Turning around to look at her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he asked, "What is it?" 

"I don't-, it just stopped," Sakura explained helplessly. She didn't understand this at all. It just didn't make sense. How could something be there one minute and gone the next? "I can't feel anything now." 

"That's odd," Syaoran muttered. Sakura wasn't the type of person to conjure up imaginary threats. If she had felt it, then it had to have been there. But if it was gone now... that didn't make sense. If it was an Arcana it certainly wouldn't have left them alone. Sighing, he turned around and walked further down the path. He looked around, studying everything, trying to find something out of place. There had to be something here. 

Sakura grimaced, dropping her hands and dangling her arms limply towards the ground. She watched the wings of the staff waft about a centimeter over the sakura petals littering the cement. Maybe she had just imagined it. Ever since The Magician showed up she had been expecting things to jump out at her around every corner. Maybe it was just getting to her and making her act silly. Yeah, that was probably it. Gulping uncomfortably at the fact that she had just made a fool of herself, Sakura looked up and started weakly, "Li-kun, maybe..." And then she saw it. It was barely visible, she was lucky to even have caught the dull gleam of it. It was silver, buried under the fallen sakura petals to hide it. It was a line of silver something that looped around in a circle on the ground and Li-kun was about to step on it. "Li-kun! Look out!" 

Syaoran whipped around at her cry. "What?!" he managed before he felt something slithering up around his ankle. Then, Sakura barreled into him and the world turned upside down. It took several moments to regain his equilibrium enough to realize that he wasn't on the ground anymore. He was hanging upside down actually and so was Sakura. There was something tight wrapped around one of his ankle and he guessed that it was a rope. Great, he got caught in a simple rope trap. This was the second time he had found himself hanging from something tonight. He wasn't too thrilled with it either. Would this never end? 

"Hoe..." Sakura blinked as they swung around in the air. This wasn't exactly what she had had in mind when she had run into Li-kun. And she had dropped the staff too. Also, by the feel of it her skirt had fallen down. She blushed at the thought of her underwear in plain view of everything. They really needed to get down. 

"Eh," Syaoran groaned as he peered down at the ground then tried to look up. This was embarrassing. "I think I can reach up to untie us. Just hold on a second." 

"No! Don't do that!" Sakura screamed, utterly mortified at the fact that Li-kun might see her panties. She eeped and clapped her hands over her mouth when she realized she may have been a bit too loud in that scream. Her blush deepened further as she haltingly explained, "My skirt fell down." 

Syaoran froze solid at her admission. He closed his eyes and felt his cheeks heat up exponentially. Okay, he couldn't do it then. "You'll have to do it," he got out in a strangled voice. 

"Right," Sakura responded as she looked up. This wasn't going to be easy. Sighing to herself, she started to pull herself up. The strain of hanging from the chasm earlier and now this was making it pretty painful and slow going though. She froze in mid-pull when she heard an all too familiar voice calling her name from the woods. Oh no, please not now. "Niichan?" she whispered in horror. 

Touya had been wandering around aimlessly in the local park. Something about the trees at night had attracted him to it. He wasn't sure why, it was just a feeling of almost deja vu. It was like he had been out under the trees in the dead of night recently, but he knew he hadn't. It was just another strange thing to add on top of others. And then, he had heard a shriek. And he _knew_ the voice behind it. Running frantically towards where he had heard it come from, Touya yelled out, "Sakura?" And then he came to a screeching halt as he reached the edge of the trees and saw... his little sister hanging upside down from a tree with that brat! 

"I can explain everything niichan!" Sakura clapped her hands together as she tried to ward off what she knew was about to happen. She winced at the look of mayhem that was dawning on her brother's face. This wasn't going to be pretty. Or at least that's what she thought before Touya's eyes rolled back and he collapsed bonelessly to the ground. 

Standing behind where he had been was the Arcana. It was a woman this time, a golden haired woman with ringlet curls. The Arcana was dressed in a Grecian style robe with a belt of ivy leaves and a circlet of the same donning her hair. A small teardrop diamond glittered in the center of her forehead, hanging from a thin golden chain descending down from her bangs. She stepped forward, one hand still extended from where she must have touched Touya. 

"Niichan! What did you do to him?" Sakura growled as the 'woman' hopped cheerfully over Touya and walked towards them. Whatever fear she might have felt at being faced with an Arcana card in such a distressing position was completely buried by her worry for her brother and the anger she felt at the Arcana for hurting him. 

"Oh, I just put him to sleep for awhile," the Arcana spoke in a rich, velvety voice. She smiled knowingly, her gray colored eyes almost seeming to glow as she crossed her arms behind her. "We wouldn't want him to disturb us, now would we?" 

Sakura's blood ran cold as the Arcana drew a gold hilted knife with a curved blade out from behind her back. "What are you going to do with that?" Sakura whispered, her eyes widening in fear as her mind supplied various ways of how the blade could be used. 

"Oh, I think you can guess well enough," the Arcana purred as she raised the tip until it was touching against the silly little card captor's throat. This was incredibly easy. How could her siblings have fallen to such a weak child like this? 

"Stop!" Syaoran yelled desperately, hoping to turn the Arcana's attention away from Sakura. He had been quiet up til now, trying to think of a way out of this. He didn't know what to do, but he had to do something before Sakura got hurt. He'd never forgive himself if that happened. "Don't hurt her." 

"Oh?" The Arcana drew her knife back and skipped around to where she was facing the boy. Now this was interesting. Perhaps she could have some fun in this after all. "Why not? Would you rather I kill you first?" she asked coyly as she pressed the tip of the knife against his throat instead. 

Sakura whimpered silently as the Arcana turned her attention away from her. If this continued Li-kun was going to get hurt... and just because he was trying to protect her. But what could she do? She couldn't reach the staff to use a card. She couldn't do anything! Closing her eyes, she felt a teardrop fall across her skin and down into her hair. She prayed for something, anything, to help them. 

Syaoran winced as the knife pricked his skin. This wasn't good. If something didn't happen soon he really would end up dead. But he didn't know what to do, he was completely out of ideas. Helplessly, he sent a little prayer out to whatever might be listening to at least save Sakura. 

The Arcana frowned and drew the knife back from her victim. "What exactly are you doing?" she asked in annoyance as she looked up at her brother and sister who had suddenly appeared on the tree branch holding up her little trap. 

The Hanged Man peered down at her and waved cheerfully. "Hey sis, long time no see," he called down merrily and then pointed down at the two kids hanging upside down. "You know I really like that position. After all, they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I'm touched." 

"In more ways than one," the Magician said snidely. She rolled her eyes at him before kneeling on the branch and reaching down to twang the silver rope. The rope swung Sakura and Syaoran around for a moment before snapping apart right above their ankles. The two tumbled to the ground, slightly winded from the drop but still in one piece. 

Sakura tugged the rope from around her and Li-kun's ankles, grabbed for her staff and scrambled to her feet. They were okay. They were fine. The other Arcana had saved them. She looked over at Li-kun, who was climbing to his feet as well, and asked, "Are you okay?" 

"Fine, just fine," Syaoran muttered as he reached up and gently rubbed his throat. There was a little blood on his hand when he let go, not much though, just enough to be a minor scratch. With the other Arcana here, he was certainly relieved. Though, he was surprised that they could still operate autonomously while having a mistress. It was something to be thankful for right now, but pondered upon later. 

The free Arcana stomped her foot petulantly and glared up at her siblings. "What are you doing?" she snarled and shook her hands in rage. "You're always ruining my plans! You're always interfering when I'm about to win! I hate you!" 

Completely unconcerned with her sister's reaction, the Magician sighed loudly and jumped down off of the branch. The Hanged Man swiftly followed, though he appeared more amused than anything else. "For a High Priestess you really lose whatever wisdom you might have had whenever you're around the rest of us," the Magician remarked in an offhand manner as she walked over towards Sakura. 

"What was that?" the now identified High Priestess growled. Her eyes narrowed in fury as she watched her sister join the card captor. 

"You heard me the first time," the Magician replied blandly, not even deigning to look back. Instead, she reached down and yanked the staff out of Sakura's hands. "You're not going to be able to do much of anything with this without an upgrade. And since I'm in such a good mood, I won't even charge you anything for it," she smirked and gestured with her free hand, her magician's cane appearing instantly in a flash of light. 

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked hesitantly as she watched the Magician hold the staff and cane side by side. She wasn't all too sure about this. It was just yesterday when this particular Arcana had been trying to kill her. Though, she had just saved them too. 

"Giving your little toy a boost," the Magician murmured as both Sakura's staff and her own cane began to glow with a white light that slowly merged them into one. When the light died down, she held only a single staff. It looked much like her cane in design, lacquered black and topped with a crystal ball. The crystal ball was flanked by a pair of white, curved wings and topped by a golden five-point star. The crystal ball glowed with an inner light and pastel colored clouds seemed to whirl around within it. "Here you go," she said as if it were no big thing and handed it back. 

"Hoe," Sakura breathed as she stared at her new staff. "What did you do to it?" 

"I just made its magic stronger," the Magician waved nonchalantly as she walked around Sakura. "It'll be more useful now. Like say, for instance, while my dear little sister rants and raves at us, you can go ahead and seal her." 

Silence descended at this tidbit of information. The High Priestess glared death at them all before throwing her knife at her sister and screaming, "_I hate you_!" The knife buried itself into the trunk of a tree since its target had long since ducked. 

"Now now, no need to be spiteful," the Hanged Man tsked, though he did skitter far out of range when the High Priestess leveled her death glare at him. "Hey, I didn't do anything." 

"How can you do this to me? To us?" The High Priestess pointed accusingly at her sister. "You know what happened! How can you possibly aid the Clow Mistress knowing that?" 

"I felt like it," the Magician shrugged, unruffled by all of this. "She's not to blame for the past and I was simply bored." 

"You liar," the High Priestess murmured quietly, the fury fizzling out in the knowledge of her soon to be defeat. "You never helped anything you didn't like." Shaking her head, she tilted her head back and stared up at the moon. "Oh well, it won't matter in the end. You can go ahead and capture me, you silly little human. Your defeat may not be tonight, but it will be soon. It's already in the cards." 

Sakura shivered at the Arcana's words, but began the sealing spell anyway. "Return High Priestess! Return Arcana!" A single card drifted down to the ground when the spell was spent. The High Priestess gazed out sadly from where she sat on a golden throne. Her hands were clasped together in her lap, holding the hilt of her golden knife in what appeared to be a rather painful grip. 

Sakura bent down and picked it up gingerly. What had the High Priestess meant? Looking over at the other Arcana, she asked, "What did she mean?" 

"Beats me," the Hanged Man said innocently, too innocently, and shrugged. "Anyway, see ya later." He smiled and waved as he melted back into card form. 

"Idiot," the Magician murmured, though her tone sounded almost fond. Crossing her arms and ignoring Sakura's question, she too faded back into card form. 

"I have a bad feeling about this," Syaoran said from the proverbial sidelines. He had been prepared to help, but with the other Arcana out he had doubted he would be needed. Being useless was a rather bitter pill to swallow. 

"You're not the only one," Sakura whispered as she gazed up at the moon. She didn't know why, but something about the High Priestess' words frightened her, badly. What was going to happen now? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Wow, it took me... what... nearly two years to finish this? Oi, I am so bad. Sorry, I got sucked into the yaoi goodness of Digimon and have been happily entrenched in it for awhile now. But, since this is Prevention Month on the KFFDisc and since this particular fic was more interesting than my older unfinished fics I decided on it. And managed to finish this part. Hope you like. ^_^ 

Next: Oniichan, please wake up! Li-kun, why are you being so quiet? 


	6. Chapter 5: Strength

**Card Captor Sakura Arcana  
Chapter 5 - Strength**

* * *

Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. Original characters are mine. Please don't use them without consulting me first.

Spoiler, Timeline and Ect. Warning: This story takes place after the Clow Cards are collected and, er, Yue's fun and games. That's it. No Eriol, no Suppi-chan, no Ruby Moon and yeah, Yukito's secret is a bit important to the plot. Sakura is sixteen in this story. This story is a bit dark compared to canon CCS, you are warned. People are going to get hurt and/or possibly dead. Please use discretion if you find that sort of thing offensive.

* * *

"Ugh! God, why does he have to be so heavy?"

"Hoe, I swear I'm making him go on a diet when he wakes up!"

"Erm, it's not so bad. We're almost there," Tomoyo smiled weakly as she hefted Touya's left leg none too easily another foot down the sidewalk. "I can see the porch light now!"

"Swell," Syaoran muttered as he did his level best to not drop the bane of his existence. It didn't help that Touya's head had to rest on his shoulder while Syaoran kept a deathgrip on his shoulders. He had never ever wanted to be this close to the older man and it was just creeping him out all over the place. However, Sakura had pleaded for his help and so here he was, helping the girls lug Touya back to the Kinomoto residence. "Tell me again why we couldn't use your van to get this idiot back to his house?"

"Because my bodyguards would have found out and _none_ of us want to try and explain what we're doing with Sakura's unconscious brother to them," Tomoyo said plainly, a slight tinge of annoyance edging into her voice. She wasn't really angry with Li-kun, but the constant complaining after leaving the park, her own included, missing another card capturing, which really annoyed her to no end, _and_ having to help carry Sakura's rather heavy older brother back home was really starting to get to her. Physical strength was certainly _not_ one of her graces.

"Right right, sorry," Syaoran murmured quietly in an attempt to avoid setting Tomoyo off. He really should have kept his mouth shut, but Touya was really starting to get damned heavy. Just a little further then he could go home and hopefully sleep. He was starting to really need some rest at this point.

"Ugh! I'm really sorry about this," Sakura apologized yet again as she hefted Touya's other leg in synch with Tomoyo. She had been doing a lot of apologizing ever since they had started lugging Touya back home. "I just didn't know what else to do."

"It's okay, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo perked up cheerfully, all the while resisting the urge to faint.

"It's not, ugh, your fault, Sakura," Syaoran scowled darkly as he risked a glance behind at the 'beings' who were responsible, of a sorts. The Magician, The Hanged Man and The High Priestess were strolling a ways behind them chatting it up about god knows what. The High Priestess seemed to have forgiven the other two, but he wouldn't risk betting on that. One could never tell when it came to the cards. "You know, you guys could help some."

"Do we look like drudges to you?" The Magician scowled back at him just as darkly. There seemed a pause as both glared daggers at each other, then The Magician smirked and purred wickedly, "Is it getting to be too much for you, dear?"

Syaoran growled sulfurously under his breath as The Hanged Man ignored them both and skipped towards the Kinomoto's house. "I'll go open the door!" He was in far, far, _far_ too good a cheer as far as Syaoran was concerned.

Tomoyo and Sakura both sighed at the rising tension and continued lugging Touya towards the house. Surely things would start to sort themselves out once they were there. Just a little further.

The High Priestess was the only one out of the group who realized they were being watched, and only because she had briefly seen the watcher earlier that night. It pleased her to know that her new 'mistress' would have to go through even more strife before the night was done.

It was only fitting for Clow's successor to suffer, after all.

* * *

Sighing, Yuri rolled over on her bed and curled her legs up tighter against her chest. She had been strangely tired all day at school. At first, she had simply figured it was because of that really weird dream, or maybe nightmare was more fitting, she had had the night before. However, trying to go to bed early tonight seemed to be quite fruitless at this point.

She was restless.

And so was the book, apparently. It was _again_ flat on the desk instead of up on the shelf where Yuri had put it. Grumbling halfheartedly, she tossed the covers off and stomped over to her desk, unconcerned about being heard. Her cousin was out _again_, which was turning out to be a trend. Honestly, sometimes it seemed like she didn't even have a family anymore.

Shaking her head to disburse that unwelcome train of thought, Yuri picked the book up and frowned at it. "Well, what is it now? Why do you even bother? You're empty now so what's the point? And what was in you anyway?" she mused aloud. It wasn't like she was expecting an answer, it was just a book after all, but it and its oddities were starting to annoy her. And she had a sneaking suspicion that she'd be having more dreams like that weird one until she figured out what was going on, as if she needed more problems than she already had.

"You'd better stay put this time," Yuri huffed as she placed the book back on the shelf and wagged her finger at it. Giving it one last meaningful glare, she walked over towards her bedroom window and glanced out at the night sky. It looked to be a nice, calm night. Maybe a short stroll through the park would make her tired enough to chase the restlessness away and let her sleep.

* * *

"There," Sakura said softly as she tucked the blankets up over Touya. After a lot more moaning and groaning, she had convinced the others that it would be best just to take her brother up to his room and put him to bed. Lugging him up the stair hadn't exactly been pleasant, but it would be much, much better for him to wake up in his own bed. "That should do it. Hopefully, when he wakes up he'll just think it was all a bad dream."

"Thank god it's over with," Syaoran groaned up from the spot against the wall he had slithered down to after they had manhandled Touya into his bed.

"I hear you," Tomoyo murmured tiredly as she leaned against Syaoran, also having literally collapsed the instant after Touya was in bed. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her arms and grimaced. She was going to be in so much pain come morning.

"Come on guys, it wasn't that bad. We've been through worse," Sakura pouted down at the pair with her hands on her hips.

"I hate to disagree with you Sakura-chan, but yes, it _was_ that bad," Tomoyo grumped as she gave her best friend a baleful look. "Just because we _may_ have been through worse doesn't make it any less bad."

"Okay fine, it was _that_ bad," Sakura sighed as she offered them both a hand to help get them up off the floor. "Let's go downstairs and I'll fix up some tea for us."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo beamed as she took Sakura's hand and levered herself up off the floor. She winced as she wavered for a moment on her feet, then righted herself as best she could. "I think I'm going to need it."

"It would be nice," Syaoran said blandly as he dragged himself to his feet, hiding a yawn behind his hand. He headed wearily out into the hallway with Tomoyo, followed shortly by Sakura who closed the bedroom door behind her.

Tomoyo stopped at the top of the stairs, halting any further progress as she glanced around curiously. "Where is Kero-chan? And for that matter, where are the Arcana?"

Sakura blinked owlishly and blushed, she hadn't noticed they were gone. She really should pay better attention. They were her responsibility after all. But she was sure they _had_ come into the house with the three of them, so they had to be around somewhere.

"Probably still downstairs, I know they didn't follow us up to help. Not that they were much help anyway, but at least they stayed out of the way," Syaoran muttered sourly as he gently brushed past Tomoyo and headed down the stairs.

As they reached the bottom, The Hanged Man peeked out from the dining room and waved at them cheerfully. "We're making tea. Would you guys like some?" The Arcana always seemed to be in such a good mood, even Sakura was starting to find it a little strange.

"Hoe, sure," Sakura answered hesitantly as she walked into the dining room. The High Priestess was in the kitchen, diligently watching the water as it came to a boil. There was an odd, but not unpleasant, smell of herbs wafting across the room. The Magician was seated at the far side of the dining table, smirking down at a bristling Kero-chan in obvious amusement.

"Sakura-chan!" Kero-chan piped out as he fluttered up from the table, flicking his tail distastefully at The Magician, "I made sure they didn't do anything bad."

"Oh! Uhm, thank you Kero-chan. That was awfully nice of you," Sakura smiled as he flew over to her shoulder and settled down. Well, at least he hadn't gotten distracted by the Touya problem.

"Just doing my job," Kero-chan puffed out, sounding like it was nothing much. It wasn't really, but he did feel kinda bad at not being there when The High Priestess had attacked. He wasn't bothered at all by the fact that Sakura-chan apparently hadn't needed him; of course not. He'd just have to pay better attention to those annoying cards from now on. He was the fierce Guardian Beast, Kerberus, after all. It was _his_ job to protect Sakura-chan, not that brat or the Arcana's. Though, he'd feel a little better about it if Yue was there to help...

The High Priestess hummed an odd melody as she poured up the tea and began handing out cups. Syaoran balked slightly as she offered him a cup and she smiled sweetly at him, "Don't worry, I didn't put any hemlock in it, even if it is a lovely way to poison someone."

"Ignore her," The Magician said bluntly, blowing into her own cup before taking a sip, "She likes messing around with humans."

"So says the pot in regards to the kettle," The High Priestess muttered snidely, gesturing for said humans to take a seat before heading back into the kitchen.

"I never said I didn't like doing so either," The Magician murmured in return, taking another sip and scooting over slightly as Tomoyo took the seat next to her.

They all sipped their tea in silence for a few minutes, the teens doing their best to not moan and groan at their many aches and pains. It wasn't until Sakura's cup was nearly empty that she dared to ask, "So, who is this 'her' you Arcana keep referring to when you attack us?"

The Hanged Man looked up innocently from where he was leaning nonchalantly against the kitchen counter. "Beats me."

"Hoe, I'm too tired for this," Sakura sighed wearily before attempting again, "Come on now, I know you know what I'm talking about. It's another Arcana isn't it?"

"You won't get an answer from any of us. You don't deserve it," The Magician eyed Sakura acidly as she took another sip from her teacup.

"Hey! She's your mistress now! You should be more polite," Kero-chan growled out as he glared across the table at the Arcana.

"Just because we have been caught is no reason to tell the Mistress of the Clow anything at all. Frankly, it is all the reason we need not to tell you anything," The High Priestess explained, not deigning to look up from her own teacup, "We are our own beings. If we choose to tell you anything it is because we wish to, not because we have to. You are only temporarily in charge, of a sorts."

"Just what is your problem with the Clow; and how do you even know about Clow in the first place?" Kero-chan asked snippily as he stretched up over Sakura's head and focused his glare towards the kitchen.

"If you don't know _that_ then you really don't deserve to know anything at all!" The High Priestess snarled, shattering the teacup in her hand in mounting fury.

"Hoe! I'm sorry, you don't need to get this upset! We won't ask anything more! Sorry!" Sakura babbled out, waving her hands in the air and trying to think of some way to calm the Arcana down before any of them suffered for it.

It was in that moment, as everyone was starting to edge away from the fuming High Priestess that a loud thump came from upstairs. Sakura looked up slowly before glancing around at the others with a dumfounded expression on her face. "I think niichan is up."

"Oh great," Syaoran grumbled as he hurriedly started to get up. "I'd better go then before he finds me down here."

"No no, please stay. You're not done with your tea yet," Sakura smiled pleadingly as she gently pushed him back down into his chair. "I'll, hoe, go up and see how he's doing. Just... stay please." Kero-chan fluttered off of her shoulder as she left the room and headed up the stairs.

"Niichan?" Sakura called out as she crested the stairs. He stood in the middle of the hallway with his back to her, not moving even at the sound of her voice. Uhoh, he didn't think what happened at the park earlier actually had happened did he? Sakura fervently hoped not.

"Niichan? Are you okay?" she tried again, trying her best to hide her worry as she hesitantly reached out to touch his arm. Before she even had a chance to blink, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her closer. "What are you-"

"Mistress of the Clow?" Touya hissed out in a voice with an odd echoing undertone, glaring balefully down at her with eyes that glowed an eerie electric blue. "Yes, you are the one."

"Oniichan? What are you doing?" Sakura tugged on her arm, trying to get free of the grip that was getting tighter and tighter. "You're hurting-" she trailed off as she looked up into Touya's eyes, not seeing him there but something else entirely. "You're not Touya. Who are you? What do you want?"

"My identity is of no consequence. Know only this," the thing in Touya said calmly as it dragged the stunned girl ever closer, "For your relation to Clow you must suffer again and again and again."

"You're an Arcana then," Sakura eyes narrowed as she began to slowly reach up towards her neck with her free hand. "Touya has nothing to do with Clow. Let him go."

"I don't think so, I rather like it here," Touya's possessor grinned viciously as he slammed her roughly against the wall, his eyes glimmering brighter as she screamed in pain.

"Sakura!" Syaoran was already through the dining room doorway, sword drawn, before her scream even ended. He took the stairs two at a time, Kero-chan zipping past his head and Tomoyo fast on his heels. However, the scene they discovered at the top caused them all to pause.

Touya towered over the crumpled form of his baby sister, the key pendant and the Clow cards held mockingly in his hands. "So is this it? The only power that you have is held within these little toys? Disappointing. I would have thought that cursed sorcerer would have made a better choice than this."

"Touya?" Tomoyo whispered quietly in disbelief.

Glowing blue eyes turned their attention towards them and a humorless smile graced Touya's lip, "Well, you have some knights to defend your honor at least. I doubt they'll stand up well though."

Syaoran drew his sword up, attempting to summon forth some defense, but it was too little too late. Touya, or whatever it was that was in the man, gestured slightly sending a wall of pure blue energy slamming into him, tossing him back out into the air above the stairs.

"Syaoran!" Sakura yelled frantically, reaching out her hand fruitlessly and receiving a vicious kick for her trouble. She had to do something... but what? That thing had the key _and_ her cards now.

"Li-kun!" Tomoyo cried out, sinking to her knees as she watched him land face down in the hallway below, his sword thrown up and over, spearing into the wall. She waited a moment, not even daring to breathe, but he didn't move. He didn't move... he wasn't... he couldn't... this was all wrong.

The thing that was in Touya laughed as Kero-chan darted towards him, negligently kicking Sakura again, harder this time, even as he plucked the little guardian out of the air. "You're almost not even worth the trouble."

"Just you wait!" Kero-chan snarled as he struggled in the man's unnaturally strong grip. "I'll make you pay!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Touya's possessor purred, "You don't even have the strength to fight, much less change your form. I siphoned it all away while the lot of you blithely sat down there and drank your tea. Surely you must have noticed?"

"What?" Kero-chan blinked, realizing suddenly that although he _had_ unconsciously been trying to change into his more powerful form ever since Sakura's scream, it wasn't working. He _couldn't_ change, he didn't have the strength to call on the necessary power. It just wasn't there. "How did you-"

Anything further from Kero-chan was halted as Touya threw the little guardian into the wall above Sakura. He smiled faintly as Kero-chan wilted and dropped, fittingly, at his mistress' feet. "I'm expected elsewhere, so I'm afraid I must cut this visit short. For now."

Tomoyo shakily drew herself up to her feet and barred Touya's path as he turned his back to Sakura and towards the stairs. "I won't let you leave... not after what you've done."

"Another knight who can do nothing," Touya's smile took on a condescending quality as he strode towards her. He stopped less than a foot before Tomoyo, far too close for her liking, and reached out to touch her cheek, chuckling darkly as she flinched. "Do you wish to die defending your mistress?"

"I'll... I'll do whatever it takes to help Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said, her voice wavering even though she tried her best to sound brave.

"Commendable," Touya murmured as he grabbed her shoulder, shoving her to the side and out of his way, "But useless. However, I'll be kind and leave you a gift. The least you can do is bleed for her."

A pained scream tore through Tomoyo's throat as bolts of blue energy lanced out from Touya's hand, sliced through her clothing and deep into the skin of her shoulder, right where he had touched her. She curled up in agony as they shredded all the way down her arm, finally stopping at her wrist and fizzling out. Touya gave her one final amused glance before turning around and sauntering down the stairs.

* * *

"You're not doing very well are you?"

Half-waking at the question, Sakura shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position to lay in. But nothing seemed to work, if she moved to the left something twinged in protest, moved to the right and something ached terribly. Was it her imagination or did she just hurt all over? Strange... what had she been doing earlier to make her body hate her so much?

Wait. They had gone to capture another Arcana card earlier that night, hadn't they? Maybe that was it, she vaguely remembered it not being all that pleasant. Then again, school at night never was pleasant. But no, there had been something else... Yes, they had gone through the park and gotten attacked by another Arcana and Touya... there was something wrong with Touya... what was it?

"If you keep hiding away from reality you're going to end up losing everything."

There was something about Touya... No, there was something _in_ Touya that had attacked her, taken the Clow and then... attacked the others! "Li-kun! Tomoyo-chan! Kero-chan!" Sakura yelled out frantically as she shot up and instantly regretted it. Everything hurt: her ribs, her back, her stomach... In fact, the last thing she remembered was getting kicked, _again_. But that had all happened in the hallway at home, and she definitely wasn't there now.

She was outside somewhere, in the woods, very familiar woods. The trees that towered above were the same ones she had dreamed about the night before, but it wasn't anywhere near as cold as it had been then. Looking around hesitantly, she realized the other difference as well. The fear, terror, that she had felt before wasn't there anymore. She wasn't exactly comfortable being there, but she wasn't scared out of her mind either. How strange.

"Ah, so you're up now. That's good."

Sakura whipped her head around, staring at the tree straight across from her. At its base kneeled a young man, a very pretty young man, that she was certain hadn't been there a moment ago. He wore black gauzy clothing with a silver glitter pattern that seemed to match the stars above. His feet were bare, she had a feeling he would never have need for shoes, and his long black hair hung in a loose ponytail over his right shoulder. The smile he gave her was kind, but his purple eyes had no pupils, much like The Magician's.

He wasn't human. He was probably another Arcana.

Sakura reached up to her neck frantically, realizing too late that that _thing_ in Touya had taken the key from her. What was she going to do? She couldn't defend herself, she probably couldn't even run with how bad she felt. But maybe-

"Don't worry, I'm not here to attack you," the young man said gently, closing his eyes for but a moment before opening them again, "I'm not really here and neither are you. In actuality, you are back at your home lying unconscious on the floor and I am elsewhere. However, I thought this would be the best time to... have a look at you while the others are distracted."

Sakura backed up against the trunk of the tree she had been laying under and eyed him suspiciously. "Have a look at me? Who are you?"

"I am The Star." The now named Arcana stood up at his admission, his long black hair shifting gracefully down his back, and stared up at the night sky. "You're like me in a way... I've felt you for a long time, even though I've been asleep ever since _then_. But I still know you," he looked over at her pensively, "and I know what you've been through. But that isn't nearly enough, you're going to have to go through so much more before any of us are content."

"I don't understand," Sakura shook her head, her body was starting to hurt worse and now her head was joining it. Why was this happening? What did the Arcana want from her? "Why are you doing this?"

_"Because you are Clow's successor, and because we hate him for what he's done."_

His voice faded out then, along with the forest. Darkness enveloped her, cocooning her against the pain she had been feeling, as another voice began to call out to her.

"Sakura-chan?"

Something, no, someone was tapping her lightly, but insistently, on the cheek. "Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan, it's time you woke up. Come on now, you really don't want oneechan to have to wake you up."

"Hoe," she murmured and winced as pain began to quickly return to her body full force. "Oh, ow ow ow ow," she groaned, fluttering her eyes open to see The Hanged Man looking down at her with mild concern.

"Ah, there we go," The Hanged Man said cheerfully as he levered her upright off the floor, ignoring any pained protests directed at him. "Yes yes, I know it hurts, but it's not too bad. And well, I thought you'd want to wake up before she got too far ahead of you."

"What?" Sakura blinked at him in abject confusion. What was he talking about? Glancing around at the hallway she started to remember just why she was on the floor and why every single inch of her body seemed to hurt. "Oniichan? Where is he? What happened?"

"Well," The Hanged Man grimaced, apparently trying to think of a way to say everything without causing her even further confusion, "Strength came for a visit, possessed your brother, who then proceeded to kick the crap out of you and your friends, then stole your key and Clow cards and ran off."

"Hoe," Sakura stared at him blankly, wavering slightly as her tired mind attempted to process what he had just told her. After a few moments, she asked with a pained expression on her face, "None of you could stop him, it, whatever, from leaving?"

"Erm, no, we didn't try," The Hanged Man patted her apologetically on the head, "We learned a long time ago to stay out of little miss dragon's way when she's acting psychotic. She gets very, very, _very_ unpleasant otherwise."

"Oh," Sakura muttered, slightly taken aback at that, "Dragon?"

"Yes," his happy go luck smile returned instantly as he started to help Sakura to her feet, "Strength is a dragon, a little phantom dragon, but a dragon nonetheless."

"I see." She didn't really, but she wasn't sure what to say at this point. Wait, no, there was something else nagging at her that wasn't right. Glancing around at the hallway again and not seeing what was bothering her, she asked, "Where are Tomoyo, Li-kun and Kero-chan? They're... okay, aren't they?"

"Well, sort of," The Hanged Man grimaced briefly as he pushed her gently in the direction of the stairs, "They're downstairs. Kerberus will be fine, he was designed to bounce back fairly quickly. Oneechan is looking after Tomoyo and her, uhm, 'wiseness' is taking care of the Li."

"But they're okay, right?" Sakura asked again, wrapping her right arm over her stomach as she painfully made her way down the stairs. She didn't remember ever having felt this bad before, but then again, she'd never gotten kicked like that by anyone before.

"More or less," The Hanged Man muttered under his breath, guiding her into the living room once they reached the bottom of the stairs. It wasn't the most welcoming of scenes that greeted them. Tomoyo sat in one of the chairs while The Magician was doing _something_ to her arm. Syaoran was laid out on the couch, his head resting on the lap of The High Priestess, who looked oddly content as she absently brushed her fingers through his hair. Kero-chan was curled up on the coffee table next to Syaoran's sword, which was gleaming eerily.

"Itai! That hurts," Tomoyo cried out, her arm jerking reflexively in The Magician's grip.

"I know it hurts, but it'll hurt worse if you mess me up," The Magician grumped as she refocused her energies on the bloody wreck of the girl's arm. "Healing magic isn't exactly my forte."

"Oh Tomoyo-chan, I'm so sorry," Sakura said mournfully, getting a good look at her best friend's arm as she staggered into the room.

"It's all right, Sakura-chan, or at least it will be," Tomoyo smiled weakly as she eyed the pink glow spreading over her arm suspiciously, "I think."

"She'll be fine," The Magician rolled her eyes as the glow brightened, "This will take awhile though. I always hated healing magic. You have to put so much effort into it and yet you get such pitiful results back."

"Thank you," Tomoyo whispered, doing her best not to wince as the magic stung at her wounds.

"Uhm," The Magician blushed in response, "It's nothing."

Sakura gave Tomoyo a quick squeeze on her uninjured shoulder before turning her attention to the couch. "And Li-kun, how is he?"

The High Priestess looked up, her fingers halting in mid-brush as if she had been completely oblivious to the other activities in the room, "Oh, he'll be fine. No broken bones or anything... now," she trailed off for a second before adding a final, "He's fine."

"Oh-kay," Sakura gave The High Priestess a funny look before glancing down at the coffee table, "Kero-chan-"

"I'm fine," Kero-chan piped out, wavering dangerously as he climbed to his feet, "Just give me a second and then I'll get that nasty Arcana for you!"

"It's okay, Kero-chan," Sakura said hastily, reaching down and pushing him back onto the table before he fell down, "Don't push yourself so much."

"But-" Kero-chan blinked helplessly up at her.

"No buts," Sakura waved a reprimanding finger at him, "I'll take care of everything, you just rest up."

Kero-chan opened his mouth to deliver a retort when The High Priestess spoke up, "You should listen to her, Kerberus. You're not going to be much good to anyone until you can stand up on your own power without falling over." Her tone was scatching as she glared the Clow guardian down.

"Ano, please don't fight. I don't think I can take it right now," Sakura sighed and rubbed her forhead. She _was_ exhausted and she hurt all over, but she couldn't rest yet. She didn't even trust herself to sit down at the moment. She had hurry up and chase after Touya... that Arcana before it got too far ahead, and it didn't look like she was going to have any help either.

"You're going to have to do it alone this time, Sakura-chan," The Hanged Man said apologetically when she turned an appraising look on him, "The others have to stay here and help your friends and I wouldn't be any good against Strength. Fate and raw elemental power don't really go good together. But," He leaned down and picked up Syaoran's sword, offering it to her hilt first, "You should take this at least."

"It's Li-kun's, I couldn't possibly-" Sakura stuttered out.

"Hey! I'm going too!" Kero-chan yelled, fluttering his wings in agitation.

"No, you're not," The Hanged Man glared balefully down at Kero-chan, his eyes darkening to an almost black, "You don't have the strength to keep up with your Mistress and frankly, I find your attempts to hide your weakness annoying."

The High Priestess smiled sweetly at her 'brother' while The Magician simply ignored them all and continued to heal Tomoyo's arm. Sakura and Tomoyo just stared at The Hanged Man in shocked suprise; they had never really seen him with any other mood than happy and mischievous. Kero-chan, on the other hand, humphed, seemingly cowed when he finally bit out a "Fine."

"That's wasn't so hard, now was it?" The Hanged Man asked gaily, his cheer returning as he wrapped a still stunned Sakura's fingers around the hilt of Syaoran's sword. "There we go. You're all set."

"But-," Sakura protested, trying to get a word in edgewise as she shook off her shock from his outburst.

"You really ought to hurry, she's going to leave you behind if you don't," The Hanged Man interrupted her as he began to push her out of the room.

"But-" Sakura glanced around the room one last time as she was pushed into the hallway. She didn't want to leave the others like this, even if he _was_ right. Surely there was something she could do for them.

"Be careful, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo murmured worriedly, waving listlessly. That wasn't what she wanted to say, she couldn't understand why she wasn't protesting any as Sakura-chan was hustled out of the room. She didn't think Sakura-chan should go off alone at all. Why couldn't she say anything? All she seemed to be able to do was watch as her best friend was forced to leave her behind. What was wrong with her?

"Sakura," The Hanged Man stopped once they were at the door, his voice soft yet commanding as he lifted her chin up, "There are some things you must do on your own. They cannot help you now and you cannot help them. Strength judges you only on your own merit. You can only conquer her when you are alone."

"Oh," Sakura breathed out shakily. She didn't like the sound of that, but it made a terrible sort of sense to her tired mind. "I see... I guess."

"Don't worry," he smiled down at her, giving her a gentle poke on the nose, "I'm sure you'll do fine."

"I... I hope you're right," she whispered quietly, gazing longingly towards the living room before turning and opening the front door.

"I'm always right," he muttered quietly under his breath, scowling as he watched her head out, "Though sometimes I wish I weren't."

_You would have been happier._

* * *

Ugh, that was unpleasant to write. sighs Don't worry, there is actually going to be some, er, exposition about the happenings in this chapter in the next. It's just... this one was getting long enough as is. ;;

Next: Two Arcana for the price of one! Hoe, where am I?


End file.
